ZEBALLOS, B.C. — 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.
"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 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 offering access to local tour operators, naturalists, and photographers currently 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.
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