Pender Ocean Defenders and Pender Islands Conservancy are very excited to welcome the WILD ORCA team to Pender Island.

The WILD ORCA team includes Dr. Deborah Giles, her research partner Jim and her whale poop sniffing dog Eba.  She will be presenting, “From Poop to Policy – What Feces Can Tell Us About the Health of the Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales” on June 6th at 7 pm at the Pender Island Community Hall.

WILD ORCA who joined with the SeaDoc Society conducts on-the-water non-invasive research, collecting and analyzing fecal samples. The findings are put into the hands of the public and policymakers so that meaningful actions can be taken to reverse the declining trend in the Southern Resident Killer Whale population.

Dr. Giles will give an overview of WILD ORCA/SeaDoc’s Southern Resident Killer Whale Health Monitoring Program as well as a summary of collaborative research projects being conducted by some of the most respected names in wildlife conservation research, that together, paint a near real-time picture of the health of the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales.