Programs Blog

July 9, 2025

Author: William G.

Today I woke up and finished my research project. I researched different ecotypes of killer whales and their feeding and movement patterns. I primarily focused on the presence of Southern resident killer whales, Northern resident killer whales, and Bigg’s killer whales in the Salish Sea. I used sighting data collected by the Orca behavior institute to track the occurrence of killer whale encounters across the months. I then used the patterns found in the data to make inferences about killer whale behavior in response to harbor seal pupping season.

Later in the day we visited WHOI to learn about the research that they conduct on deep sea ocean currents through radiocarbon dating. After we learned about that we visited the archives of seafloor cores that they use to gain insight into the past environments of the ocean. The sheer amount of cores that are inside the WHOI archives amazed me. We additionally visited a laboratory that researchers use to improve underwater vehicles and update their equipment.