Last year, amazing supporters like you, along with our partners Curve Digital, helped to buy a land-based camera at Kaizumi rubbing beach, a culturally important area for the Northern Resident orcas. This camera allowed our friends at OrcaLab to monitor orca activity and provide evidence for this beach to be protected.
OrcaLab is a land-based whale research station in the heart of the Johnstone Strait, British Columbia, Canada. The sheltered waters the team monitor are one of the best places in the world to view orcas in their natural surroundings, using a network of remote cameras and hydrophones placed within the orca’s core habitat. Unfortunately, the surface camera at the main rubbing beach has failed and needs replacing. We urgently need to raise funds to replace this camera, can you help us today?
OrcaLab has been collecting information from the main rubbing beach since the 1990s. Your gift will allow the team to buy and install a camera at this culturally important rubbing beach for Northern Resident orcas. In the past, the orcas have spent hours at the beach having fun and socialising. However, in recent years they have been spending less time here which is believed to be caused by logging on the island changing the quality of the pebbles and sand in the area. It is critical to monitor orcas to understand why their behaviour has changed.
For over 50 years, OrcaLab founder Dr Paul Spong has been working to protect orcas. Watch the stunning short film above where Paul explains why monitoring orcas at this important rubbing beach is critical, and how you can help.