The team

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Jared’s work primarily revolves around studying the movements, behaviour, abundance, and ecology of cetacean populations using direct observations and remote sensing technology. He typically spends over 100 days a year at sea conducting field research on killer whales in both hemispheres, but has also been involved in studies on minke, humpback, fin, sei, blue, grey, right and sperm whales in the North Pacific, South Atlantic, Indian, and Southern Oceans. Jared manages several killer whale population datasets, helps advise and direct a number of cetacean research and conservation organizations in North America, has published several scientific articles, and in addition to conducting conservation based field research also responds to cetacean incidents such as entanglements, entrapments, and strandings.. 

Tasli joined Bay Cetology in 2017 as a data analyst and research assistant, primarily with the ongoing Bigg's Killer Whale population monitoring program. She also manages a project focused on photo-identification of Humpback Whales in the Salish Sea, and collaborates with similar efforts across the region. Tasli has over 11 years of experience working on the waters of southeastern Vancouver Island as both a captain and wildlife guide. 

Gary joined Bay Cetology in 2016 as a research assistant and data analyst and primarily works on the Bigg’s killer whale monitoring program. He is also part of the Ocean Wise conservation association as a whale research assistant and vessel operator. Their photogrammetry team uses aerial photographs to assess body condition and relative health of northern resident and Bigg’s killer whales. Occasionally, he works as a professional wildlife guide with Ocean Ecoventures based out of Cowichan Bay. 

Danielle is a marine mammologist from South Africa who joined Bay Cetology in 2023 as a photo ID specialist. Her role here includes the processing and management of photo ID data, database administration and assisting with fieldwork and equipment maintenance. Danielle has over 15 years of experience in various roles within the marine mammal field and holds an MSc in Zoology which focused on the abundance and habitat use of the endangered Indian Ocean humpback dolphin. Her previous experience includes working as a boat-based whale watching guide and skipper, attending to marine mammal strandings and conducting necropsies, managing and leading research projects at NGO’s in South Africa and Namibia and joining the 78th Overwintering Expedition to remote subantarctic Marion Island to collect data on killer whales and pinnipeds for the Marion Island Marine Mammal Programme.. 

Elysanne is a French marine biologist who obtained her MSc studying coral bleaching. Since then, she has been involved with sea turtle preservation in Costa Rica before working on small dolphin and killer whale bioacoustics and ethology in Greece and British Columbia. Her role with Bay Cetology includes assisting with fieldwork, analysing and processing photo-identification data, developing databases, and managing the NRKW ID app. Elysanne's interests are, among other things, marine conservation, cetacean acoustics and behaviour, and animal welfare.  

Celine is a Masters student at the University of Montpellier, France. As part of her degree she has been working with Bay Cetology since 2022 to study scar acquisition and healing rates among ecologically and genetically distinct killer whale populations. She also collaborated with Bay Cetology for her Bachelors thesis which focused on a global review of the impacts of climate change on cetaceans. Celine has co-authored a book on the state of the world's oceans and has experience working with marine mammals and seabirds in Europe and Southern Africa as a research assistant, guide and science communicator. 

After completing a MSc in Marine Ecology at the University of Victoria and spending summers doing fieldwork on killer whales at Orcalab off northern Vancouver Island, Paul completed a PhD at CNRS (France) on the interactions between killer whales and fisheries off the Crozet subantarctic islands. While still working on this population, he extended his research to include fisheries interactions with other marine predators in Australia, the Indian Ocean and other subantarctic areas until being appointed as a researcher at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) in 2021. Paul’s work focuses broadly on conflicts between humans and wildlife in oceans. He uses interdisciplinary approaches to assess, understand and mitigate conflicts between fisheries and marine megafauna. In particular, much of his efforts have been dedicated to understanding depredation (species feeding on fishery catches) by sharks and marine mammals and to identify ecologically and socio-economically sustainable ways to reduce this conflict through changes in fishing behavior and fishery management.

Lance’s career has primarily focused on the behavioural ecology and population biology of North Pacific killer whales. He attained a BSc from the University of Guelph and his MSc from the University of British Columbia. His PhD research focused on the role of genetics in the mating systems and population subdivisions of killer whales. Lance has worked as a research scientist for Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Director of the Marine Mammal Program for the Coastal Ocean Research Institute where he helped pioneer the use of unmanned aerial vehicles to unobtrusively assess health and body condition in threatened and endangered killer whale populations. 

Sherry Towers, PhD MS, is a data scientist, modeller, and expert in visual analytics.  From 2012 to 2019 she was affiliated research faculty at the Simon A. Levin Mathematical and Computational Modelling Sciences Center at Arizona State University where she pursued a diverse research programme in the life and social sciences.  In 2019 she was a senior fellow at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany, and remains an affiliate scholar with the institute.  She is also owner and CEO of her data analytics consulting company, Towers Consulting, LLC.

Alexandra Morton began studying the relationship between the calls and behaviours of A clan northern resident killer whales in 1977.  In 1984, she established a base in the Broughton Archipelago to continue this research year round.   In 2002, she began publishing on the impact of industrial salmon farming on killer whales, Pacific salmon and the spread of sea lice and viruses. Simon Fraser University granted her a Doctor of Science, honoris causa, in 2010 for her research into the impact of salmon farms. She has published six books and is currently returning to studying sound/behaviour correlation in A clan killer whales. 

Bob Pitman spent 45 yrs conducting over 150 cetacean survey cruises for NOAA Fisheries in all oceans of the world. He has authored over 100 papers on marine bird and mammal biology, but has tended to focus on killer whale ecology during the last 20 yrs. Now retired, he is continuing to write papers and wants to see the few remaining cetaceans he hasn’t seen yet. He now lives in Newport, Oregon, with his wife Lisa Ballance who is currently the director of the Marine Mammal Institute, Oregon State University.

Alex hold B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in computer science from Friedrich-Alexander University, and has specialized in applying machine learning to killer whale research for the past five years. Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the same field, he is dedicated to creating accessible machine learning tools for conservation science. His focus involves user-friendly software, collaborations with wildlife organizations, and contributions to open-source projects. With a commitment to ethical considerations, he aims to bridge the gap between technology and wildlife conservation, integrating diverse data sources and knowledge from field experts. Alex emphasizes adaptability and public awareness, advocating for the responsible use of technology in understanding and preserving ecosystems. Actively engaging in conferences and publishing research findings, he seeks to inspire others and foster collaboration between the realms of machine learning and conservation science. He is driven by a vision of making impactful contributions to the intersection of technology and environmental preservation.