People living on B.C.’s coast are offering up their private properties to host technology that can detect whales, in hopes of safeguarding the marine mammals that pass through.
Suzette Alvarez and Marshall Farris own an oceanfront property near Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast, where a live camera was installed underneath the deck of their house in May 2024.
The camera points out towards the Malaspina Strait, and a hydrophone was dropped into the ocean 20 metres deep, picking up underwater noise from vessels and animals.
“These animals are precious. They’re magnificent … and we need to do what we can to protect them,” Alvarez said.
In recent weeks, three humpback whales have been killed, and one injured after being struck by a vessel on B.C.’s coast.
Alvarez is among a group of B.C. residents that are deploying technology that can help detect whales and potentially provide protection, according to scientists.
Raincoast Conservation Foundation, a non-profit team of conservationists and scientists, operates and collects the data from the camera and hydrophone.
The technology is the first of its kind in the area, according to Valeria Vergara, a scientist with the foundation.
“This is something that is quite needed there … this area is really undersampled acoustically,” Vergara said.
Their research focuses on monitoring the presence of at-risk marine mammal species by tracking their vocalizations and how noise levels from boats and other human activities impact them.
“Underwater noise has become a real, real issue in the last few decades,” she said. “Noise transmits very, very well in water and about four to five times faster than in air.”
Two separate homeowners in B.C. are doing their part to help safeguard marine mammals. As Alanna Kelly reports, they are hosting different pieces of technology that both detect animals without disturbing them.
For humpback whales and orcas, sound is how they communicate with each other and find prey.
“To listen to a singing humpback and then suddenly boat noise obliterates that song, it’s a really good way to get the general public and policymakers to understand just how dire the situation is,” Vergara said.
Southern resident killer whales are endangered, and noise pollution plays a big part, according to Vergara.
“Noise pollution, along with contaminants, and a lack of prey availability are the three main culprits for their lack of ability to recover,” she said.
Thermal camera detects whale blows
Alvarez is not the only one trying to do her part.
Chris Roper lives on Pender Island and offered up a spot on his property to host an infrared thermal camera called WhaleSpotter.
“There’s lots of work to do to coexist with exceptional amounts of shipping and marine mammals,” said Roper.
The cameras belongs to the W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians that protect southern resident killer whales.
Using the technology and cameras, the guardians are monitoring and advocating for the animals in the Salish Sea.
Daniel Zitterbart, the chief scientist at WhaleSpotter, explains how the camera and artificial intelligence help to protect whales, detecting when a whale is present.
The thermal camera detects the temperature difference of a whale blow in real time, and a person verifies the alert within 30 seconds to a minute. Only verified information is sent back to the operator.
“In British Columbia right now, we have over 10 cameras distributed,” Zitterbart said.
“We have a science-backed solution now, which is capable of providing protection at a very high level, and this can be done for all sorts of mammals,” he added.
Roper’s property on Pender Harbour sits right above a whale sanctuary where vessels are prohibited from entering during specific times of the year.
The location is also a high-traffic area for container ships, large vessels and ferries.
“We’re really getting noisy here, and that’s evident by the hydrophone and the noise spectrum that comes up from the hydrophones,” Roper said.
Detection could be used to implement speed limits
Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientist Harald Yurk said these devices are all helpful tools, along with witnesses in person.
“The technology is one of the tools that can be used, but it’s not like the magic wand,” Yurk said. “It is a combination of all of those.”
He suggests that the technology could be used to put speed limits in place of 10 to 12 knots when it detects the animals.
“That would at least, when a whale gets hit by a boat, it would reduce the risk of it being killed,” Yurk said.
Alvarez rents out her Sunshine Coast property for people to visit, and she hopes that by people being able to see and hear the whales, they’ll continue to care.
“It helps you to feel like they’re part of you, part of your ecosystem, part of what you want to protect,” Alvarez said.
