Researchers aim to use artificial intelligence to save endangered whales in B.C. by Camille Bains, The Canadian Press Posted Dec 13, 2020 2:49 pm EDT Last Updated Dec 13, 2020 at 2:56 pm EDT VANCOUVER — Researchers are aiming to “teach” a computer to recognize the sounds of resident killer whales in order to develop a warning system for preventing ships from fatally striking endangered orcas off British Columbia’s coast. Steven Bergner, a computing science research associate at Simon Fraser University’s Big Data Hub, said he is collecting and managing a database of sounds picked up 24 hours a day by a network of hydrophones in the Salish Sea.