Marine Mammal Classifier App Wins Canadian Edition of Ocean Hackathon 10

A machine learning-driven web app providing whale and dolphin IDs from hydrophone recordings will represent Canada at the Grand Finale of international competition Ocean Hackathon 10.

The winning project was chosen during the Victoria edition of 48-hour innovation sprint Ocean Hackathon 10 this past weekend, hosted by COAST, an initiative of the South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP), Greater Victoria's economic development alliance. Regional editions were simultaneously convened in twelve cities and nine countries around the world. 

Produced by Campus Mondial de la Mer, the international competition brings together marine science and digital innovation in a format designed to inspire and engage emerging ocean entrepreneurs. Participants gain access to vast marine databases and receive guidance from experienced mentors and industry professionals while developing their projects. They then pitch their prototypes to a panel of judges.

This year, 17 participating university students in the Victoria edition (the only one held in Canada) were assigned to four groups to help solve ocean data challenges. The winning app was developed by B.C. university students Olivia Whitelaw, Grace Bertozzi, Pranav Rajesh Krishnan, Jossie Yan and Leanne Farmer. Dubbed Sea Who's Calling, it is a prototype monitoring tool with potential for global application.

Its primary goal is to support decision-making for the Royal Canadian Navy when planning exercises to mitigate potential impacts on marine mammals, while also providing accurate data on each type of whale or dolphin that may be in the area.

Initial trials show Sea Who's Calling can classify marine mammals with a higher degree of accuracy than its closest competitor, while also being able to discern and distinguish more species. In testing on expert-labelled recordings from Ocean Networks Canada, it outperformed leading bioacoustics models from Google DeepMind, Cornell's K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics and the Earth Species Project.

"Once our system can provide real-time marine mammal classifications, it could support a wide range of marine projects, including conservation, research, First Nations Guardian programs, and vessel strike prevention efforts," the team said.

Project Sea Who's Calling will now advance to the global Grand Finale, taking place in Brest, France on December 10, 2026.

Last year, the winning project from Canada's edition of Ocean Hackathon 9, also hosted by COAST and Ocean Networks Canada at COAST's Ocean Innovation Hub in Victoria, was the only one from North America to make it to the Grand Finale. Out of 57 teams worldwide, Ocean Drift took second place overall.