Experts hope AI can help reunite orcas
The latest advancements in identifying killer whales with the help of artificial intelligence are being put to use to help reunite an orphaned B.C. orca with its pod, but first it needs to leave the lagoon where its mother died.
The B.C.-based whale research group Bay Cetology is offering access to its online AI-assisted photo database to local photographers and tour operators as part of efforts to track the whale’s relatives, giving the calf a chance to connect with its pod.
Executive director Jared Towers said the technology scans photos of killer whales submitted by those on the water and can quickly identify individual animals based on their dorsal fins and other markings.
He said scientists have been able to identify specific animals based on their fins for more than 50 years, and using AI is the next advancement.
“Really, this is just an extension of that research methodology. It started with film, and then it went digital, and now we’re transitioning into deep learning, machine learning, or an artificial intelligence kind of model to conduct this work moving forward.”
The young killer whale has been stranded in the lagoon since its pregnant mother died after being caught when the tide went out more than a week ago.
Whale experts, First Nations members and experts with the Fisheries Department haven’t been able to lure the calf into the open
A young killer whale has been stranded in a lagoon since its pregnant mother died after being caught when the tide went out more than a week ago
ocean where it might reconnect with its family pod.
The Fisheries Department said in a statement Monday that the tides in the remote location near Zeballos, on northwestern Vancouver Island, continue to be too low for efforts to encourage the whale to go over a sandbar and into the open ocean.
Towers said the AI program, known as Finwave, is currently in its beta-testing stage, but has a more than 90 per cent accuracy rate when looking for Bigg’s killer whales such as the orphaned calf.
Towers said offering access to local tour operators, naturalists, and photographers working off the west coast of Vancouver Island will allow scientists to be better placed to help when it’s time to connect the young whale with its family.