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As ocean industries expand and activities throughout coastal waters grow, marine mammals — many of which are already threatened or endangered — are facing increased threats to their ability to communicate, feed and navigate using sound.

To address this, 91��ܽ researchers are ramping up efforts to protect whales from anthropogenic noise with a new training program that will prepare the next generation of scientists with the skills needed to safeguard these marine mammals and help deliver on .

The initiative, Whale Habitat and Acoustic Learning for Ecosystem Sustainability (WHALES), received $1.65 million in funding from NSERC’s Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program to train graduate students in marine bioacoustics — launching Canada’s first national marine bioacoustics training program.

Students in the WHALES program will participate in local field schools, internships, conferences and national and international lab exchanges with collaborating institutions alongside their classroom and lab courses to ensure they graduate career-ready. 

With partnering institutions, including the University of Victoria and Dalhousie University, students will have the opportunity to learn and apply bioacoustics to study an array of iconic Canadian marine mammals including southern resident killer whales, North Atlantic right whales and Arctic beluga whales.

Ruth Joy, an assistant professor and statistical ecologist in SFU’s School of Environmental Science, leads the WHALES program. Joy specializes in marine bioacoustics and studies anthropogenic stressors on southern resident killer whales, including noise.

Joy is also the co-author of a  that focuses on saving Southern Resident Killer Whales from extinction and highlights the importance of reducing noise pollution to support their recovery.

“Because light only penetrates so deep within the ocean, many underwater animals rely on sound as their primary way of understanding the world around them,” explains Joy. “Sound travels a lot faster and further underwater, and we’re just beginning to understand the impacts that noise has on these animals.”

Her team is currently developing a system to forecast southern resident killer whale activity in shipping channels to alert and slow commercial shipping traffic in real-time to minimize noise and collision threats. 

“There are a lot of marine mammals around Canada’s coasts that are at risk of habitat degradation from anthropogenic noise disturbance,” says Joy. “We’re trying to figure out how we can sustainably manage our maritime industries while minimizing the impacts on marine fauna.”

The WHALES program brings together experts in a range of scientific disciplines including physics, marine biology and statistics. The team of applicants are drawn from across SFU, Canada and internationally to provide students with the theoretical, experiential and professional knowledge they’ll need to advance the field of marine bioacoustics.

“Typically, these fields would be quite siloed in their approaches. Bringing all these people together creates the potential for a legacy that isn't just academic. We're partnering with coastal citizen scientists, the Port of Vancouver, the Canadian Armed Forces, the marine energy sector, the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment and different government institutions,” says Joy. “Right now, there is no program of its kind in Canada.”

Joy explains that the expansion of the blue economy, driven by ocean activities such as shipping, offshore wind and tidal energy infrastructure and port expansions, is raising noise levels in Canada’s Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Ocean habitats. Training in marine bioacoustics will be increasingly important for developing solutions that reduce harm to marine mammals — increasing the demand for these skills. 

“This emerging field will continue to generate significant employment opportunities while supporting our national and international responsibility to be a leader in mitigating underwater noise impacts. WHALES will help to ensure that we have the trained, interdisciplinary professionals needed to meet this demand,” says Joy.