Blitz de baleines

The Ocean Wise Sightings Network (formerly known as the BC Cetacean Sightings Network) was established by Ocean Wise in 2000 and is one of Canada’s most enduring and successful citizen science programs. The OWSN has built a diverse and dedicated network of coastal community members who regularly report their cetacean and sea turtle sightings via the WhaleReport app. The OWSN regularly conducts community events throughout BC to educate coastal citizens about everyday actions they can take to become stewards of the marine environment.

The OWSN maintains a database of over 300,000 verified sighting reports from approximately 7,700 observers and shares this valuable information with government organizations, ENGOs, marine industry, and researchers. These sighting reports are an important means of identifying and protecting critical habitat, highlighting areas of high risk, and organizing outreach and mitigation efforts that reduce anthropogenic threats to at-risk species.