QENTOL, YEN / W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians Year in Review

Since the program’s founding in 2022, the QENTOL, YEN / W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians team has hit the ground running. During the inaugural year of operations, the team approached the protection and monitoring of the endangered KELŁOLEMEĆEN through both traditional, academic means and via new, inventive avenues, like writing the first KELŁOLEMEĆEN story book.

In terms of academic rigor, QENTOL, YEN stood out as leaders in Marine Protection.

From February 3-9, the QENTOL, YEN attended and presented at the International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5), an international conference that brings together experts in ocean conservation and high-ranking government representatives to discuss, debate and take action on marine protected areas.

Chosen from an applicant pool of over 700 applicants from 66 countries, QENTOL, YEN had the distinction of presenting twice. QENTOL, YEN’s solo presentation on February 5 was titled “New Beginning: QENTOL, YEN / W̱SÁNEĆ Marine Guardians.” The second presentation, on February 7, was a collaboration between QENTOL, YEN, Parks Canada, and other groups.

Additionally, QENTOL, YEN set up and staffed a booth at IMPAC5’s “Ocean Expo” area, where they shared information about the program with hundreds of visitors daily. While there are multiple Marine Guardians programs in Canada, QENTOL, YEN was the only Marine Guardians program presenting at the “Ocean Expo.”

QENTOL, YEN’s success at IMPAC5 positioned them to collaborate with other leaders in the field to make an even greater impact.

In March, QENTOL, YEN invited Shift Environmental on a joint water expedition whose goal was to explore potential technological collaboration to monitor the SRKW and Habitat. Shift Environmental helps coastal First Nation communities in British Columbia achieve their planning, economic development, and sustainability goals through the use of their ocean technology, expertise, and industry relationships.

Also in March, two groups who attended the IMPAC5 conference visited with the Marine Guardians: the Stewardship Department of Kwikwetlem First Nations (KFN) and the Coastal Conservation team of the BC Metis Association (BCM). The KFN Group, which has a stewardship program, spent a day on the Salish Sea to observe how QENTOL, YEN conduct and document monitoring work. BCM wanted to get an overview of the monitoring program as they are looking to potentially develop their own environmental surveying and monitoring.

IMPAC5 conference attendees weren’t QENTOL, YEN’s only collaborators this year. This summer, QENTOL, YEN announced two exciting partnerships with Simon Fraser University’ and North Coast Cetacean Society (BC Whales) who are both interested in focusing on data collection to support recovery plans of our “ Relatives of the Deep”, KELŁOLEMEĆEN. Simon Fraser University’s Humans and Algorithms Listening and Looking for Orcas program (SFU HALLO), a collaboration whose mission is to acquire critical data on KELŁOLEMEĆEN. By installing a series of hydrophones (underwater devices that detect and capture sounds inaudible to the human listening range) to capture whale calls, whale clicks, and sounds of general marine traffic, new information can be collected and used to the general benefit of KELŁOLEMEĆEN.

QENTOL, YEN's second partnership is with North Coast Cetacean Society (BC Whales). BC Whale is a non-profit whale-research organization dedicated to the research and protection of cetaceans (all whales, dolphins and porpoises) along the northern coast of British Columbia. Together they set up their first hydrophone in the Southern Gulf Islands. The teams worked together over 3 days to install large solar panels and the hydrophone to work around the clock to monitor whale movements. A recent and exciting addition includes an online page that hosts recordings of whale vocalizations captured by the hydrophone, allowing anyone to follow along on the journey of data collection and interpretation.

QENTOL, YEN also engaged in an exciting creative endeavor: the creation of a KELŁOLEMEĆEN storybook! KELŁOLEMEĆEN: The Introduction is part of the Marine Guardians’ ongoing effort to restore the connection between KELŁOLEMEĆEN and W̱SÁNEĆ people, a critical mission considering only 73 KELŁOLEMEĆEN remain. The story draws in readers of all ages with fun facts about KELŁOLEMEĆEN, also known as killer whales, presented in SENĆOŦEN and accompanied by vibrant illustrations and graphics. This book is intended to be the first in a series of storybooks by the Marine Guardians that focus on cultural stories centered around W̱SÁNEĆ knowledge holders.

All of the successes above were presented for community members and other organizations alike in QENTOL, YEN’s first annual report, which provided detailed information gathered by the team in a short 5 months between November 2022 and March 2023. The report included water-quality analyses, information on the Goldstream Hatchery, and data from monitoring marine vessel activity. The report can be found here.

QENTOL, YEN’s success in its first year is in alignment with W̱SÁNEĆ Southern Resident Killer Whale Senior Manager David Dick’s promises for the program. “Stay tuned for more excitement coming with our QENTOL, YEN program,” said Dick in a prior interview, “because we’re just getting bigger and better.”

QENTOL, YEN welcomes community questions and participation. If you are interested in learning about how you can protect the KELŁOLEMEĆEN, contact the team at (778) 351-0111.