B.C. university students win ocean innovation hackathon

A team of British Columbia university students has won the Canadian edition of Ocean Hackathon 10 in Victoria. Their winning prototype, titled ‘Sea Who’s Calling’, uses machine learning to identify whales and dolphins from underwater hydrophone recordings.

The tool is designed to assist the Royal Canadian Navy in planning exercises while mitigating the environmental impact of sonar testing and other maritime activities on marine life. During initial trials using recordings from Ocean Networks Canada, the prototype reportedly outperformed several prominent bioacoustics models, including those from Google DeepMind and Cornell University.

The winning team, consisting of Olivia Whitelaw, Grace Bertozzi, Pranav Rajesh Krishnan, Jossie Yan, and Leanne Farmer, will represent Canada at the competition’s global finale in Brest, France, on December 10.