If you truly want to understand the world that whales live in, you need to listen! That is why hydrophone technology has become one of the most important tools we can use to research the communication and habitat use of whales worldwide.
In 2018 we reached out to several well-known organizations that have many years of experience with this type of research and proposed a project that would have us working together to better protect whale habitat. By 2025 the BC Hydrophone Network (BCHN) had 15 partners with 23 hydrophones installed in key locations along the BC coast and we’re still growing. Together we are creating a massive acoustic library of standardized data that can be used to for research projects that protect whales and inform conservation planning for British Columbia’s most exceptional wild marine places.
Our shared philosophy is to focus on non-intrusive research methods and to always show respect for the well-being of whales. We understand that whales are highly intelligent and have captivated the hearts and curiosity of many.
The BC Hydrophone Network (BCHN) is a collaboration of Indigenous communities, conservation minded individuals, and NGOs working together to better understand and protect the marine soundscapes of British Columbia (BC). Together we have developed a BC coast-wide acoustic underwater monitoring network with the use of standardized hydrophone stations. The information gathered from each hydrophone is connected to a user-friendly interactive map and dashboard that tracks whales and underwater noise along the entire coast. WhaleSound.ca is our platform to share this information between partners, communities, and the public.
The data that has been collected is a massive underwater acoustic library of whale communication and daily underwater soundscape information. This data is available to help researchers, territorial stewards and conservation-minded individuals identify trends regarding whale habitat use and human made underwater noise levels within different regions of the coast. This access to data is also a great resource for comparing the acoustic behaviour of whales in relation to different levels of noise in their environment. This has led to many interesting discoveries regarding the culture and acoustic traditions of different whale species, and how their acoustic behaviour depends on the changes within their underwater world of sound.
