Rescuers hope AI will help reunite orphaned orca calf with pod

The latest advancements in identifying killer whales with the help of artificial intelligence are being put to use to help reunite an orphaned orca with its pod — but first it needs to leave the lagoon on the coast of Vancouver Island 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, in the hopes of ultimately giving the calf a chance to connect with its pod. 

Executive director Jared Towers said the technology scans submitted photos of killer whales and can quickly identify individual them based on their dorsal fins and other markings. 

He said scientists have been able to identify specific animals using their fins for more than 50 years. 

"Really, this is just an extension of that research methodology," Towers said. "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."

WATCH | How AI might help stranded orca calf:

Rescuers using AI to try and rescue stranded orca calf in B.C.

8 months ago

Duration 2:01

Nine days after an orca calf became stranded in a lagoon off the B.C. coast, rescuers trying to get the killer whale back to its pod have turned to artificial intelligence for assistance.

The young killer whale has been stranded in the lagoon near Zeballos, on northwestern Vancouver Island, 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 Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) haven't yet been able to lure the calf into the open ocean where it might reconnect with its family pod. 

Paul Cottrell, DFO marine mammal rescue co-ordinator, said although the calf has been on its own for nine days, it's still active. 

"The animal has been observed with a duck in its mouth, we believe," he said, suggesting it may have been able to eat a little bit of food. 

The DFO said in a statement Monday that the tides in the remote location 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. 

The platform, which started in 2021, has about 200 users in its testing phase and the goal is to turn it into an open-source data system by this summer.

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.

He said it's possible the animal will make it out of the lagoon on its own, at which point it will be up to the whale to call out to find its pod.

If that doesn't happen, Towers said rescuers could decide to lift the animal out of the lagoon and place it in the open ocean.

"So, that's why it's very important for us to know more about where that family is, and which way they're going, and when they're there, and try and get an indication of their routine," he said.

He said photos taken Sunday morning and submitted to Finwave show the calf's relatives were off Ucluelet, B.C., about 150 kilometres south of Zeballos, and heading north.

Rescuers have tried a range of methods to get the calf beyond the sandbar, including recorded whale calls, specialized directional guide lines, Indigenous drum beats and metal pipes in the water struck to create a "sound wall." 

Rescuers had to pause their efforts over the weekend while they wait for the tide to rise. 

The local Ehattesaht First Nation, which is helping in the rescue effort, has given the young calf a name: kwiisahi?is, meaning Brave Little Hunter.

Chief Simon John told CBC News that while nature will take its course, it's been hard on his community to see the calf isolated. 

"The community is really affected by it spiritually," he said.

John said the nation will try to interact with the killer whale in the coming days and try to get it to follow them into the open ocean. 

"All we can have is hope," he said.