Whale Seeker is a Canadian company that leverages ethical AI to simplify whale monitoring. We build fast, automated, accurate, and user-friendly visual whale detection tools that empower all decision-makers in maritime-industries to develop more sustainable business practices.
We developed our AI technology in response to a lack of scalable, standardised methods for monitoring whales over vast, remote regions. We use innovative techniques to address the technical problems of AI for whale detection – few, small targets within large datasets and the difficulty of building a generalizable model that works with different species and environments.
COMPLIANCE FOCUSED
Government and regulatory bodies are increasing legislation that requires maritime operators and industries to track and minimise their impacts on marine ecosystems. Marine industry and research are required to report marine mammal detections in their operating zones to comply with regulations and permitting requirements or to reach internal sustainability goals. However, whales are difficult to locate quickly and accurately. The current standard for using aerial images to survey whale populations requires months to years of painstaking manual analysis. The inadequacies in manual whale monitoring result in only a fraction of existing datasets being analyzed, as well as accessibility barriers, major data gaps, and decisions made on limited or even inaccurate or outdated data.
IMPACT FOCUSED
Protecting and restoring global whale populations is an essential component to maintaining and harnessing Blue Carbon systems, with a single whale capturing thousands of trees’ worth of carbon and playing a critical role in ocean carbon sequestration cycles. Yet current whale populations are a fraction of historical numbers and face major, increasing threats from maritime activity. There is an urgent need to reduce human-driven whale mortalities, but current monitoring methods are slow, manual, and expensive. Without easily accessible whale presence data, offshore operators and marine protected area managers cannot reasonably make decisions to lower the negative impacts of marine biodiversity, and it is impossible to create accounting systems needed to reward and incentivize responsible action and sustainable operations.
Whale Seeker is majority female-owned, and our core team is 50 per cent female and includes four full-time, early-career employees. We specifically write job advertisements to attract and encourage female and minority applicants, in part through our flexible work and generous maternity leave policies. These achievements helped Whale Seeker attain B Corp certification in 2021.
Tell us about yourself?
Whale Seeker took root in 2017, as founders Bertrand and I– working on multiple marine research mandates – spent thousands of painstaking hours manually analyzing 6,000 plus aerial images on a quest to find narwhals and whales. During this tedious exercise, it hit us; there was no technology out there to facilitate their mammal detection tasks.
There was no doubt that such a technology would benefit countless industries in need of accessible whale detection: ships needing to avoid whale-strike-related penalties, oil companies facing whale-related delays while conducting seismic studies, and governments looking to adequately manage their marine populations. So how could they all achieve their objectives? Through quick, affordable whale detection.
In 2018, Antoine Gagné joined as CTO, and together, the three co-founders created Whale Seeker. Whale Seeker has one mission: to deliver better, simpler, and faster whale detection data by leveraging AI. The company’s early growth was supported by two prestigious accelerator programs, Techstars Montreal AI (2020) and the Sustainable Ocean Alliance (2021).
Today, Whale Seeker builds fast, automated, accurate and user-friendly visual whale detection tools that empower all decision-makers in maritime-industries to develop more sustainable business practices. The team consists of a growing team of biologists, ecologists, data scientists, software developers, and AI specialists. Whale Seeker is the first AI company in the service of wildlife to become a Certified B Corporation.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
I’d say that you don’t have to do everything yourself. You can ask for help! There are many programs to help entrepreneurs succeed.
What problem does your business solve?
We developed our AI technology in response to a lack of scalable, standardised methods for monitoring whales over vast, remote regions. We use innovative techniques to address the technical problems of AI for whale detection – few small targets within large datasets and the difficulty of building a generalizable model that works with different species and environments.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
n 2017, my co-founder Bertrand and I embarked on a research mandate for narwhals. It was a painstaking process that involved manually analyzing over 6,000 aerial images. As we went through this process, we realized that there was a major gap in the technology available to facilitate mammal detection tasks.
It quickly became apparent to us that this technology would be incredibly useful for numerous industries in need of accessible whale detection. These included ships looking to avoid whale-strike-related penalties, oil companies facing whale-related delays during seismic studies, and governments seeking to manage their marine populations more effectively.
We were determined to find a way to deliver quick, affordable whale detection for our clients. In 2018, we were joined by Antoine Gagné as CTO, and together we founded Whale Seeker with a mission to solve the problem of slow, manual, and expensive marine mammal detection. Our goal is to provide accessible whale detection for industries and governments seeking to minimize their impact on marine ecosystems.
What is your magic sauce?
Our magic sauce at Whale Seeker lies in our unique combination of automated detection, transparency and expertise, and ethics and sustainability.
Firstly, our automated detection technology sets us apart from the competition by speeding up detection and eliminating observer bias, fatigue, and human error. This enables us to provide faster and more accurate detection of marine mammals, helping our clients make informed decisions with greater confidence.
Secondly, we pride ourselves on our transparency and expertise. We guide our clients through each step of the data processing, ensuring they have a complete understanding of the results and can make informed decisions based on the data. Our team consists of scientists and technical experts with extensive experience in marine mammal detection, all working under the same roof to ensure we provide the best possible service.
Lastly, our commitment to ethics and sustainability is another factor that sets us apart. We bridge the gap between profitability and sustainability with the highest ethical standards for both technology and business practices. Our technology is designed to minimize the impact of human activities on marine ecosystems, and we ensure that our business practices are sustainable and environmentally responsible.
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
In the next five years, our vision for Whale Seeker is to become a leader in automated marine mammal detection and biodiversity monitoring solutions. We plan to continue to develop and refine our technology to provide the most accurate and reliable results possible.
We also aim to expand our reach and make our solutions accessible to more clients, including governments, NGOs, and private industries worldwide. By doing so, we can have a greater impact on biodiversity protection and sustainability practices.
In addition to marine mammal detection, we plan to develop new features that will enable our clients to monitor and protect other marine species and habitats. We believe that our technology can play a vital role in promoting the health and well-being of the oceans and the many species that call them home.
We also plan to continue to operate with the highest ethical and sustainable standards, ensuring that our technology and business practices align with our mission of protecting the environment. We will work to reduce our carbon footprint and support initiatives that promote ocean conservation and sustainability.
Overall, our goal for the next five years is to make Whale Seeker a household name in the field of marine conservation and monitoring. We want to be known as a company that is making a real difference in protecting the oceans and the many creatures that depend on them, all while providing our clients with the best possible tools for data-driven decision-making.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
One of the biggest challenges we’ve faced is educating our clients about AI and how our tool can benefit them. Some people are worried that AI will replace them, but that’s not our intention. Instead, we want to empower our clients with accurate and timely information so that they can make better decisions about how to protect marine ecosystems. It’s also important to us that we use AI in an ethical way, and we’re committed to doing so as we continue to grow and develop our solutions.
How can people get involved?
There are several ways for people to get involved with Whale Seeker:
Customers: If you are a government agency, private company, or NGO that needs marine mammal monitoring solutions, you can become a Whale Seeker customer. Contact us at hello@whaleseeker.com to learn more about our technology and services.
Partnerships: We are open to partnering with other organizations and companies that share our values and mission. If you have a project or idea that aligns with our goals, please reach out to us at hello@whaleseeker.com
Investors: If you are interested in supporting Whale Seeker financially and investing in our mission, we would love to hear from you. Shoot us an email at hello@whaleseeker.com
Spread the word: Help us raise awareness about the importance of marine mammal monitoring and the solutions we offer. Follow us on social media, share our posts, and tell your friends and colleagues about Whale Seeker.