Camera and hydrophone on North Pender Island livestreams killer whale habitat to the world

The Raincoast Conservation Foundation hopes that a new camera equipped with a hydrophone on North Pender Island will help us understand what Southern Resident Killer Whales hear underwater. 

The camera has a view of the Pender Island Interim Sanctuary Zone, which is protected from boat traffic to reduce impacts on the whales. 

RCF wants to use data from this station to record and track vessel noise to help inform regulations to help Southern Resident Killer Whale populations recover. 

The Interim Sanctuary Zone is also home to porpoises, sea lions and humpback whales, which researchers hope can be identified by their “characteristic vocalizations”.

That same noise data will be made publicly available on NoiseTracker, which is a collaborative project between hydrophone operators in BC.

The live stream is up and running on the foundation’s YouTube channel.