Hydrophone Recording of Northern Resident Killer Whales and Boat Traffic

Northern Resident Killer Whale sounds drowned out by the propeller noise from a boat. Recorded by Pacific Wild's Great Bear Sea Hydrophone Network on August 7, 2016 in the Hakai Protected Area.

Help Pacific Wild to learn more and protect orcas’ critical habitat by donating to the Great Bear Sea Hydrophone Network here: pacificwild.org/support-us/donate

Our network of underwater hydrophones allow us to gather data about critical habitats like this one in the Hakai Protected Area. The northern resident populations that remain year-round in the coastal waters of central and northern B.C. are listed as Threatened under the Canadian Species at Risk Act (SARA). Alarmingly, these bodies of water are not currently designated as critical habitat under SARA for these whales. Current recovery strategies and action plans (if they exist) note that there is currently insufficient information to fully map out these at-risk species’ critical habitat, plus protection measures under SARA are not always properly enforced. These gaps in protection pose a real threat to cetacean species inhabiting the waters of the Great Bear Rainforest.

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