Valeria Vergara

I am a behavioural ecologist and bioacoustician fascinated by how animals use sound to navigate their social and ecological worlds, and what that reveals about their intelligence, culture, and resilience.

For over two decades, I have studied the communication systems of cetaceans and the impacts of underwater noise on their ability to communicate effectively, with a primary focus on beluga whales and later on killer whales. My doctoral research at the University of British Columbia was the first to document how beluga calves develop their vocal repertoires and to identify individually distinctive contact calls used for mother–calf contact and group cohesion, vital in the underwater world where vision is limited. Since then, I have led long-term studies integrating underwater acoustics, behavioural observations, and, more recently, drone-based aerial imagery to understand how whales use sound to maintain social bonds, coordinate behaviour, and navigate increasingly noisy oceans.

My fieldwork has taken me from the Canadian Arctic and Hudson Bay to the St. Lawrence Estuary, British Columbia’s coastal waters, Patagonia, and Colombia, studying belugas, narwhals, killer whales, humpbacks, and Guiana dolphins. This broad comparative perspective, spanning species, habitats, and conservation contexts, has deepened my understanding of how acoustic communication reflects both ecological pressures and social complexity.

I co-direct the Cetacean Conservation Research Program at Raincoast Conservation Foundation and serve as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Windsor, roles that combine field research, mentorship, and collaborations with academic, Indigenous, government, and NGO partners. My research blends behavioural ecology, acoustics, and conservation science to inform strategies that reduce underwater noise and protect the acoustic habitats that whales depend on.

October 2025