Decoding killer whale communication is key to defending their home
An increasingly noisy ocean is threatening the survival of this iconic BC species – field biologists and computer scientists are joining forces to defend their voice.
Killer whales are facing many threats – prey depletion, contaminants, and climate change among them. But one threat is invisible to us and devastating to them: noise pollution. Its true impact on killer whales is only now coming into focus.
To killer whales, sound is survival. They rely on calls to feed, to coordinate their movements, and to maintain their complex relationships. But with the ocean getting louder from vessel traffic, their vocalizations are being drowned out.
A team of scientists from Raincoast Conservation Foundation have joined forces with Earth Species Project, a non-profit research organization using artificial intelligence/machine learning to advance our understanding of animal communication.
At the heart of the project is a deceptively simple idea: to watch and listen at the same time. By synchronizing drone footage, underwater acoustic recordings, and behavioural observations to the nearest second, the team aims to uncover how killer whales use sound to coordinate movements, share prey, and maintain social bonds – to ultimately understand and mitigate how noise pollution interferes with these processes.
Advanced AI-based analytical tools help interpret this enormous multimodal dataset, identifying patterns across thousands of calls and mapping relationships between specific calls and behaviour. Valeria Vergara, Senior Scientist, says, “By understanding what killer whales are actually communicating to one another, we can determine which processes noise is disrupting – and that knowledge is what allows for the design of targeted, evidence-based measures to reduce its impact.”
In 2025, this team alongside Icelandic Orca Project completed a highly successful pilot season in British Columbia. The pilot laid the foundation for a scalable, long-term research program that can be extended to multiple killer whale populations worldwide.
“We know noise is a problem. What we haven’t had until now is the scientific foundation to say precisely how it disrupts killer whale communication and what we can do about it. That’s what this research gives us.”
Lance Barrett-Lennard, Senior Scientist
The team is now preparing for their 2026 field season. One of their partners has committed to providing half of the funds required for this marine expedition to take place. That means they have a little over 3 months to raise the remaining $77,500. Donors’ support directly fuels the science, helping get the vessel and researchers into the field so this critical research can continue.
They’re speaking. We just need to listen.
About Earth Species Project
Earth Species Project is the new frontier of interspecies understanding. We decode animal communication with advanced AI to illuminate the diverse intelligences on earth. More about ESP.
