History

Orcasound began about 20 years ago as a network of underwater microphones (hydrophones) listening for the endangered killer whales near Seattle (WA, USA). Our orcas make a wonderful symphony of sounds -- calls, clicks, and whistles -- that can be heard for many kilometers as the whales travel through the region in search of their favorite food: Pacific salmon.

With funding from NOAA (2007-12), the network provided alerts to researchers who derived much of what we know about the diet, stress levels, and behaviors of the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW). With early mp3-streaming, Orcasound also allowed community scientists to listen for orcas and other sound-makers in the Salish Sea (inland waters of WA and BC, Canada), inspiring them to learn about and act to protect marine life. Thus, by supporting both research and eduction, the network facilitated orca recovery and marine conservation.

Starting with a crowdfunding campaign in 2017, Orcasound also became an open source software project. The initial goal was to make it easy to listen for orcas on any browser, device, and operating system. After intense end-to-end tests of the streaming software (orcanode code) and a web-based player (orcasite code), the Orcasound live-listening web app launched in Nov. 2018. Version 2 of the web app launched in May, 2020, with new interactive features like a button to indicate when you hear something interesting and email notifications of network activity.

These advances, combined with comparable strides in artificial intelligence, has set the stage for humans and machines listening together in 2021. Orcasound provides acoustic detections and real-time notifications to an ever-growing suite of hundreds of end-users involved in killer whale conservation: researchers, managers, educators, and other stewards. We also have more than 1000 subscribers who are poised to act for the orcas whenever they are heard live. This year, we hope to contribute to the new Quiet Sound initiative -- Washington State’s effort to reduce noise impacts from ships and ferries.

We welcome your help advancing the live-listening web app in 2021, or one of our other high-priority projects. Join us to hack for a day, or help over the long-haul as we develop open-source software not only to save and study orcas, but also to benefit the broader bioacoustic community and other splendid sound-making species in need of conservation.