Google, DFO partner to track orcas with artificial intelligence

If an oil spill were to hit B.C.'s southern coast, threatening the local orca population, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) could respond in a way that wasn't technologically possible just two years ago, says Paul Cottrell. For years the marine mammal co-ordinator counted on a network of 18 hydrophones – underwater listening devices lining much of Vancouver Island – to detect calls of the endangered southern resident killer whales and track their movements in the Salish Sea. But what if artificial intelligence could be harnessed to automatically detect the calls of that one particular subgroup of orcas around the clock? That was the pitch Google's (Nasdaq:GOOG) artificial-intelligence division made to the DFO at a 2018 workshop in Victoria. "The opportunity to work with such cutting-edge individuals and technology was amazing," Cottrell said.