HMSC Research Seminar: Beyond Detection: Whale Behavior, Biologging, and Ocean Intelligence at Leviathan Systems

About

Speaker: Nathan Krajewski, founder and CEO of Leviathan Systems

Topic: A whale appearing at the surface is one moment in a much larger story. What is that animal doing beneath the water? What is happening in the ocean around it? And how can we connect the observations needed to begin answering those questions?

At Leviathan Systems, these questions are driving the development of an approach to ocean observation that brings cameras, animal-borne sensors, underwater sound, environmental data, and artificial intelligence together. In this seminar, Nathan Krajewski will share how emerging technologies can help connect these different perspectives and make it possible to explore whale behavior in the context of a dynamic ocean.

Beginning with a shore-based observatory in Monterey Bay, the talk follows the journey from detecting and preserving brief surface events to examining what happens below the surface through biologging. Drawing on examples from Cascadia Research Collective tag records, Krajewski will explore how video, depth, movement, and sound can be visualized and examined together, and how machine-learning-assisted tools can help researchers search recordings and revisit moments of interest.

The discussion then widens to the surrounding environment, looking at how ocean observing networks, environmental mapping, and emerging AI-based forecasts could provide further context for these observations. Connecting these sources requires careful attention to where and when measurements were made, as well as collaboration between the people who collect, interpret, and build tools for the data.

Through examples, lessons, and a vision for what comes next, this seminar will explore how AI and technology can help bring researchers, whale-watch operators, and observations across the ocean together to reveal a more complete picture of whales and the environments they inhabit.