Oceans Initiative

Oceans Initiative is a team of scientists on a mission to protect marine life, including whales, dolphins, sharks, salmon & seabirds, in Canada and beyond. Like the whales we study, we are highly migratory. We spend half our time getting our feet wet in the field, wherever our work is needed, but the other half is spent using our science to inform smart decisions to conserve wildlife. Our work addresses two themes: estimating animal abundance and distribution; and assessing impacts of human activities on behaviour, energetics and population dynamics of marine wildlife. While we have studied baleen whales in the Antarctic & Patagonia and river dolphins in the Amazon, we work primarily in Pacific Canadian waters. We partner on marine conservation projects with government agencies, non-government organizations and First Nations.