THE TEAM
Eve Jourdain
Director & Principal scientist
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Eve created Norwegian Orca Survey in 2014 as a data collection plateform for her PhD. Her PhD studies focused on killer whale diet and contaminants. Currently, she is a postdoctoral researcher on the MULTIWHALE project at the University of Oslo investigating diet, social behavior, population structure and effects of multiple stressors on Norwegian killer whales. Eve is also the lead of fieldwork and the curator of the Norwegian Orca ID database.
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Richard Karoliussen
Co-Director & Field investigator
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Richard co-founded Norwegian Orca Survey together with Eve in 2014. Since, he has been dedicated to collecting the data and biological samples necessary to all ongoing and already completed studies. When Richard is not skippering the research boat, he is biopsy sampling or attaching multi-sensor tags to killer whales with suction cups. As an accomplished drone pilot, he also operates drones to collect aerial views of the whales for various research purposes.
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Stephanie Milne
Master student,
University of Oslo
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Stephanie is investigating contemporary and historical diet and contaminants of Norwegian killer whales as part of the project MULTIWHALE.
Elena Sasso
Master student,
University of Rome
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Elena is studying killer whale behavioral responses to whale watching activities. Her project is part of MULTIWHALE.
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Clare Andvik
PhD candidate
Clare first volunteered with Norwegian Orca Survey in the summer of 2016, and has since been involved as both a master student and research assistant. Clare is now a PhD Candidate on the MULTIWHALE project, studying the effects of multiple stressors on Norwegian killer whales. Her focus is the levels and effects of pollution on individuals in the population, in conjunction with other human activities.
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Vegard Aasen
Killer whale ID photographer
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Vegard is an awarded Norwegian photographer specializing in wildlife and adventure sports. ​Vegard lives in Sogndal in Western Norway, where killer whales have frequented the fjords the last winters. As a wildlife photographer, he quickly gained interest in the new visitors and has contributed with ID photos to Norwegian Orca Survey since 2017. He is now a proud citizen scientist and a part of NOS-Vestlandet. Vegard's ultimate goal is to raise awareness and engagement for vulnerable nature through his images.
Marten Bril
Killer whale ID photographer
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Marten is the general manager and skipper but also a talented wildlife photographer at Whale2Sea, a whale watching company based in Andenes. Marten spends most of his life at sea observing and photographing whales. Since 2013, Marten has contributed more than 70,000 photos to the orca ID-project. He is also field investigator on the Norwegian Sperm whale research project.
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Hannaleena Väisänen
Killer whale ID photographer
Hannaleena is a guide and wildlife photographer at Arctic Whale Tours, a whale watching company based in Stø, Vesterålen. She has been spending much of her time at sea from the tropics in Australia to Northern Norway, where she's been contributing to the orca ID-catalogue since 2019. She's also working on her master thesis on sperm whale and Greenland halibut fishery interaction in Vesterålen​
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Krisztina Balotay
Killer whale ID photographer
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Krisztina is a guide onboard whale watching cruises at Green Gold of Norway and a wildlife photographer. She is also a confirmed orca lover, which led her to create Orca Channel. Krisztina spends each winter season on sea observing and photographing whales. Keen on contributing to research and conservation of Norwegian orcas, she has shared her id-photos with Norwegian Orca Survey since 2015.
Olve Erdal
Killer whale ID photographer
Olve was born and raised in Ulvik, in the Hardangerfjord. Passionate with nature and photography, he spends a lot of time outdoor. Olve has witnessed the recent pattern of orcas visiting the Hardangerfjord on a regular basis. Eager on learning more about who these whales are and wanting to contribute to their monitoring, Olve has contributed ID photos to Norwegian Orca Survey every year. He is now a key player in the ongoing porject NOS-Vestlandet.
Simon Johnsen
Killer whale ID photographer
Simon is an awarded wildlife photographer and filmmaker from the Hardangerfjord. Simon has been tracking the orcas each time they appeared in the region for the past years. To raise awareness of these beautiful animals, Simon created a local Facebook group where people can share their observations live, and thus, facilitate chances of locating the whales for others who want to observe them. Simon is part of the NOS-Vestlandet project.
Students who conducted their graduate studies in collaboration with NOS:
Aimee Matika, Tiffany Goh, Emma Høgh AÌŠslein, Ulla Amanda Falch, Carl Fagerlund, Elena Catasús, Kiah Lee.
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