Listen Up! How Distributed Acoustic Sensing Technology Is Being Used To Help Detect SRKWs Artwork

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Hey, all you naturalists out there! Want to know more about the different marine species living in the Salish Sea? How about the latest research findings with them? All ecosystems are eventually connected. For this reason, in each podcast we will dive in with an expert to talk about topics and facts related to the marine animals that call the Salish Sea home and occasionally include topics of broader relevance. We'll cover topics from the small (plankton) to the large (whales) and everything in-between, including our iconic salmon and orcas! If you have curiosity and wonder about the local marine life that abounds here, then this podcast is for you!

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Listen Up! How Distributed Acoustic Sensing Technology Is Being Used To Help Detect SRKWs

August 20, 2026 • Samantha Juber • Season 6 • Episode 8

0:00 | 36:26

Since the population of Southern Resident killer whales is endangered, monitoring & tracking (non-invasively) their presence in, and around, the Salish Sea is important to help scientists and agencies measure threats like declining Chinook salmon, vessel noise pollution, and toxic pollutants to guide immediate conservation actions. One way this has been done is by listening for them through the use of hydrophones (underwater microphones). However, there can be other ways to listen to them. On this episode, University of Washington Graduate Student, Samantha Juber, shares with us about an intriguing new project being undertaken in the Salish Sea which relies on distributed acoustic sensing technology (i.e. underwater fiber optic cables) to "hear" and detect the whales. We are definitely all "ears" to hear about this!