ORCA Southern Ocean Distance Sampling Research Programme 2025/26

ORCA are leading a project in collaboration with the British Antarctic Survey, HX and the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands to better understand the abundance and distribution of recovering large whale populations in the Southern Ocean with a particular focus on South Georgia and the Antarctic Peninsula.

As experts in distance sampling, ORCA first devised and conducted a bespoke research project for the 2022/23 Antarctic season on board HX's MS Fram. This important research was continued the following year, and will now be conducted for a fourth year during the 2025/26 Antarctic season.

This training course will equip you with the skills to participate in this exciting and vital project. You will have a refresher on how to conduct structured scientific ORCA distance sampling surveys which will enable you to collect critical data to a high standard on large whale abundance, distribution and range in the Southern Ocean. The course will also provide information on expectations, conduct, dos and don'ts on board, and key duties such as organising bridge-based surveys, conducting effective training on board and dealing with difficult scenarios. 

To complete this course, you will need to read through all course content and receive a passing grade (90%) on the end of course assessment (ORCA Southern Ocean Distance Sampling Research Programme 2025/26 - Quiz).

If you have any questions about the training course content, please contact us at survey@orca.org.uk.