{"id":101804,"date":"2026-02-02T08:49:03","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=101804"},"modified":"2026-02-02T08:49:03","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T13:49:03","slug":"social-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/02\/social-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Social smarts help BC humpbacks adapt as oceans change"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada&#8217;s National Observer Whale researcher Janie Wray vividly remembers the first time she saw humpbacks bubble-net feeding on the northern BC coast more than 20 years ago. First, the mournful calls begin at depth, followed by a perfect ring of bubbles rising through the water. Moments later, herring scatter and flash as they leap from the ocean as up to a dozen humpbacks surge upwards in unison, breaking the surface with their maws agape. \u201cWe were a little blown away at first,\u201d said Wray, CEO of BC Whales. \u201cIt\u2019s just such a stunning observation.\u201d What the scientists on the Fin Island research station, which is located at the entrance to the Kitimat Fjord System, didn\u2019t realize at the time was that what they&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F02%2F02%2Fsocial-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada&#8217;s National Observer Whale researcher Janie Wray vividly remembers the first time she saw humpbacks bubble-net feeding on the northern BC coast more than 20 years ago. First, the mournful calls begin at depth, followed by a perfect ring of bubbles rising through the water. Moments later, herring scatter and flash as they leap from the ocean as up to a dozen humpbacks surge upwards in unison, breaking the surface with their maws agape. \u201cWe were a little blown away at first,\u201d said Wray, CEO of BC Whales. \u201cIt\u2019s just such a stunning observation.\u201d What the scientists on the Fin Island research station, which is located at the entrance to the Kitimat Fjord System, didn\u2019t realize at the time was that what they... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F02%2F02%2Fsocial-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Social smarts help BC humpbacks adapt as oceans change - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/02\/social-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Social smarts help BC humpbacks adapt as oceans change - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada&#8217;s National Observer Whale researcher Janie Wray vividly remembers the first time she saw humpbacks bubble-net feeding on the northern BC coast more than 20 years ago. First, the mournful calls begin at depth, followed by a perfect ring of bubbles rising through the water. Moments later, herring scatter and flash as they leap from the ocean as up to a dozen humpbacks surge upwards in unison, breaking the surface with their maws agape. \u201cWe were a little blown away at first,\u201d said Wray, CEO of BC Whales. \u201cIt\u2019s just such a stunning observation.\u201d What the scientists on the Fin Island research station, which is located at the entrance to the Kitimat Fjord System, didn\u2019t realize at the time was that what they\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/02\/social-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T13:49:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/02\\\/social-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/02\\\/social-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Social smarts help BC humpbacks adapt as oceans change\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-02T13:49:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/02\\\/social-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1103,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/02\\\/social-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/02\\\/02\\\/social-smarts-help-bc-humpbacks-adapt-as-oceans-change\\\/\",\"name\":\"Social smarts help BC humpbacks adapt as oceans change - 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