Leave No Trace and Southern Residents with Dr. Deborah Giles

Submitted by On Sacred Ground.

Listen to Dr. Deborah Giles, Science and Research Director of Wild Orca share whale tales of the Salish Sea and how Leave No Trace on the water is vitally important to our way of life in the San Juans. On Sunday, Dec. 4 from noon to 1 p.m. at the grange, participants will learn about her particular twist on LNT practices to support Southern Resident killer whales.

Dr. Deborah Giles is one of the world’s leading experts on Southern Resident killer whales. Starting as a research assistant in 2005, then the subject of her graduate studies and her entire professional career since receiving her Ph.D., making Giles one of the few scientists to have focused almost exclusively on this iconic population.

Giles serves as the Research Director for Wild Orca, monitoring the Southern Resident killer whales’ health through non-invasive sampling with Eba, her highly-trained scent detection dog.

Giles collaborates with government scientists and other researchers to enhance understanding of the many impacts on these endangered whales from overfishing, pollution and noise. She represents their interests with policymakers and is frequently interviewed by print and broadcast media as one of the principal voices calling for the recovery of these endangered orcas.

https://www.wildorca.org/team/dr-deborah-giles/.