Friedlander Lab Joins British Antarctic Survey to Track Whales from Space

Small motorboat with people on board near a whale in the ocean.
Researchers from UC Santa Cruz deploying a motion-sensing and dive recording tag on a humpback whale off the western Antarctic Peninsula. Research conducted under NMFS Permit 23095, ACA Permit 2015-014, and IACUC Friea1706.

Our lab at UC Santa Cruz, the Friedlander Lab, has teamed up with the British Antarctic Survey to track whales using super-detailed satellite images. This new method lets us count whales in hard-to-reach places, giving us important data that we can’t get from ships alone. This partnership is helping us learn more about whale populations and their recovery in the Southern Ocean. Check out more details on the British Antarctic Survey website and the Scientific Reports study.