It’s been a great 2022 at ORCA, and we want to thank you for all your support over the past year, helping our vision to see the oceans alive with whales and dolphins.
After a two-year break in surveys, ORCA Marine Mammal Surveyors returned to the bridge of ferries across the UK to collect vital whale and dolphin sightings data. We have conducted 62 distance sampling surveys on board Brittany Ferries, Isles of Scilly and CalMac vessels.
2022 was the biggest year yet for our Ocean Conservationist programme, with at least one person out at sea every day of the year - overall, they spent the equivalent of 12 man-years at sea! Ocean Conservationists visited exciting and critical cetacean habitats, including Alaska, Greenland and Antarctica.
For the first time, ORCA collected data in the Baltic Sea and Northwest Passage, and we recorded new species - hourglass dolphins and southern right whales! Overall we recorded 31,666 cetaceans, including belugas, narwhals and rough-toothed dolphins and 2,963 other animals, including loggerhead turtles and sea otters!
We look forward to sharing our exciting plans for 2023,
We look forward to sharing our exciting plans for 2023 and can’t wait to see what the New Year will bring!