A Management Information System for Regional Conservation: Gray Whales in Ahousat First Nations Territory, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

Author: Ellen Hines
Organization: Whale Research Lab, University of Victoria

Box 3025
Victoria, V9A 2V4
British Columbia, Canada

Phone: 250-472-4746
Fax: 250-721-6216
ehines@office.geog.uvic.ca

We will be describing a GIS-based interactive information system that catalogs and analyzes cultural and scientific information about resident gray whales in Ahousat First Nations territories off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. This system will incorporate (1) scientific information about resident whale locations and photo identifications from the University of Victoria Whale Research Lab since 1993, (2) spatially explicit mapping of whale habitat using high-resolution video seabed imagery and local core sampling, (3) video oral histories of Ahousat elders talking about the history and cultural traditions concerning whales, and (4) documentation of whale management concerns of both the Ahousat band and local researchers.

A centuries-old association with the gray whales has created traditions that have been long-ingrained in the culture of the Ahousat people. It is important that knowledge of this relationship be documented for both the historical and cultural benefit of the band and the utility of present-day management. Our goal is to create a tool that can be useful as a source of scientific, cultural, educational, and management information.