Report Your Sightings To Help Conservation Efforts

Photo: Caitlin Birdsall

Credit: Lance Barrett-Lennard

Photo: Caitlin Birdsall

The B.C. Cetacean
Sightings Network

If you see a whale, dolphin, porpoise or sea turtle, we want to know! Since 2000, the B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network has engaged coastal residents and mariners in collecting and reporting sightings of cetaceans and sea turtles. With a coastline as long and intricate as British Columbia's, monitoring cetaceans year round is difficult for researchers without help from the public. This is where the B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network makes a difference.

Visit the B.C. Cetacean Sighting Network to learn more.

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Photo: Caitlin Birdsall

How It Started

The Vancouver Aquarium has studied wild cetacean populations since the early 1970s. In 2000, a new project began at the Aquarium to help acquire and compile important conservation information about the relative abundance, distribution, and habitat use of B.C.'s whales. In 2004, we added sea turtles to the network. Since its beginning the program has recruited a network of over 3,000 individuals and collected over 60,000 sightings. The BC Cetacean Sightings Network works in collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to use this important information to better understand and conserve these populations.

Cetaceans And
Sea Turtles In B.C.

From the enormous blue whale to the petite harbour porpoise, the B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network has collected reports of 23 different species of cetaceans, and three species of sea turtle in B.C. waters. Unfortunately, 16 of these species are listed at-risk. To learn more about the identification and natural history of these animals, check out Wild Whales, the home of the B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network.

Throughout the year, BCCSN staff also do a variety of outreach events and presentations to recruit and train potential observers around the coast. Find out about upcoming events here.