MAPPING US AND CANADIAN WATERS: Some US-related Conservation Programs at the Vancouver Aquarium

The US Consulate General Vancouver has worked for many years with the Vancouver Aquarium on a number of projects, most recently the annual TD Canada Greater Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. As we approach year’s end, we thought readers would be interested in knowing more about the great bilateral work of the Vancouver Aquarium.

The Vancouver Aquarium has a variety of conservation programs that reach throughout British Columbia. Some of the programs reach from the west all the way to the most northern and eastern regions of Canada, as well as into neighboring U.S. states.

Following is a list of programs that reach into the United States’ west coast:

Long-term monitoring of Killer Whale Populations

The world's longest continuous study of killer whales-and one of the longest on any animal species-has been underway in British Columbia for over 30 years. The project is a unique cooperative effort of marine biologists from the Vancouver Aquarium, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the University of British Columbia, the Centre for Whale Research in Washington State, BC’s OrcaLab, and a host of other institutions.

At least 18 graduate students have earned Masters or PhD degrees based on their involvement. Photo-identification is at the core of the project and makes it possible to track the lives of all of the more than 500 killer whales living along the British Columbian and Washington coasts. Other important techniques used include acoustic analysis of calls, and analysis of DNA from minute skin samples. The Vancouver Aquarium has been a central player in the research since the early 1970's.

North Pacific Killer Whale Project

In 2002, Alaskan biologist Craig Matkin and Dr. Barrett-Lennard expanded the scope of their research project to include killer whales along the Alaskan Peninsula as far as the Aleutian Islands. In the course of this work, Barrett-Lennard and Matkin discovered a population of over 100 transient killer whales near False Pass, Alaska. As in British Columbia, the primary research methods are photo-identification, analysis of calls, and DNA analysis.

Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) Project

The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking (POST) Project provides researchers with the infrastructure and data clearinghouse capability necessary to track the movement and behaviour of a variety of marine species along the Pacific coast of North America, from Point Reyes, CA, to Prince William Sound, AK. 

In partnership with groups such as NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center, POST maintains a broad-scale array of acoustic receivers running in lines on the ocean floor, effectively "curtaining off" segments of the coast in CA, OR, WA, BC and AK.  Scientists from federal, state and provincial agencies, universities, and other non-governmental agencies outfit marine and anadromous animals with tiny acoustic transmitters, so their journeys in fresh- and saltwater can be accurately documented.   

Through the use of novel technology, POST is shedding light on an otherwise opaque ocean, allowing researchers to find interesting and sometimes surprising results that will contribute to the improved conservation and management of biologically and commercially important marine species.  The Project is hosted by the Vancouver Aquarium and funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  POST is one of 17 projects of the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year international effort to assess and explain the distribution, diversity and abundance of life in the oceans.  Learn more about POST, its application, and a few of the intriguing results at www.postcoml.org.

North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research Consortium

Mission Statement

The mission of the Consortium is to undertake a long-term program of research on marine mammals and their interactions with fisheries, other species and oceanographic conditions in the North Pacific Ocean and Eastern Bering Sea.

About the Consortium

In the summer of 1992, John Roos, Vice President of the Pacific Seafood Processors Association, on behalf of a group of representatives of the fishing industry, requested Pacific Northwest universities to submit proposals for research concerned with the impacts of fisheries on Steller sea lions. From that request, the North Pacific Universities Marine Mammal Research Consortium was formed with four participating institutions: the University of Alaska, the University of British Columbia, the University of Washington, and Oregon State University.

Funding for the research program of the Consortium has been obtained from the North Pacific Marine Science Foundation. The Consortium has been greatly aided in its work by the guidance and assistance provided by the United States National Marine Fisheries Service, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre.