Dog Helps Track Endangered Whales
- 12 years ago
This Dog Helps Track Endangered Whales - as part of the news series by GeoBeats.
A full-grown black Labrador sits at the front of a small boat on the Pacific coast of the United States hunting endangered Killer Whales, also known as Orcas.
He’s part of a team of researchers who study the Orcas in an effort to protect them by tracking and recording the effects of environmental stress like whale watching tourism.
Tucker, the black lab, is the best of only three other dogs used to track the scent of Orca scat in the water.
The lead dog handler in the study, Heath Smith said: “Our objective is to have as little impact on the whales as possible by using Tucker, we are able to keep a greater distance from the whales and detect when scat is present.”
The researchers then measure the levels of hormones and toxins like PCB and DDT in the scat, which they use to understand the effect that a high number of boats in the water and a lower food supply has on these endangered animals.
What are some stories you have heard of dogs doing amazing things?
A full-grown black Labrador sits at the front of a small boat on the Pacific coast of the United States hunting endangered Killer Whales, also known as Orcas.
He’s part of a team of researchers who study the Orcas in an effort to protect them by tracking and recording the effects of environmental stress like whale watching tourism.
Tucker, the black lab, is the best of only three other dogs used to track the scent of Orca scat in the water.
The lead dog handler in the study, Heath Smith said: “Our objective is to have as little impact on the whales as possible by using Tucker, we are able to keep a greater distance from the whales and detect when scat is present.”
The researchers then measure the levels of hormones and toxins like PCB and DDT in the scat, which they use to understand the effect that a high number of boats in the water and a lower food supply has on these endangered animals.
What are some stories you have heard of dogs doing amazing things?