2018–2022 Southern Resident killer whale presence in the Salish Sea: continued shifts in habitat usage

Monika Wieland Shields, Director of the Orca Behavior Institute, has observed orcas in the Salish Sea, a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean located in the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington, since 2000. She has recently published an article in the peer-reviewed open access journal PeerJ that provides crucial insights into the changing habitat usage of the critically endangered southern resident killer whales (Orcinus orca), shedding light on historic trends and the current status of the population in the Salish Sea. We caught up with Monika to find out more about her research and the orcas she is so passionate about.