Impressions from the Orca Symposium, Tarifa (Spain)

Orca-related research appears to attract an increasing number of academic disciplines beyond marine biology, wildlife behavioral studies, and conservation. Most empirical research in the subject area involves all kind of advanced sensory, measuring, observational, and information technologies. Other scholars here come from as distant fields as linguistics, genetics, and history among others. My own participation, which emphasizes the perspectives of emergency management and information management, is only another case in point. Learning from these different academic perspectives is fascinating to me.

For showing accepted posters (see below) the organizers chose a historical spot (a building, which had served for a long time as a Christian Church once converted from an Islamic Mosque, which in turn was built on a large Roman foundation adjacent to a Medieval Fortress).

Entrance to the “Iglesia Santa Maria” hosting the poster exhibition
Inside the former church
Sailors’ Telegram self-help groups have helped disentangle sailors and orcas
Scale model of an orca outside the symposium venue
Panel discussion on human-orca interaction on February 20, 2025