Alexandra Morton

Alexandra Morton is a marine biologist known for her 30-year study of wild killer whales in the Broughton Archipelago in British Columbia. Morton began her work as a volunteer in the Human/Dolphin Society in 1977, where she catalogued 2,000 audio recordings of bottlenose dolphins. In 1980 she permanently shifted her studies to wild killer whales. Her work took her to the coast of British Columbia, where she witnessed the impacts of salmon farming. First, the whales she was studying left, then the salmon populations crashed and the community around the region began to lose its livelihoods. This chain of events inspires Morton’s research and advocacy to this day.

In 1981, Morton founded Raincoast Research Society, a science-based association committed to researching the devastating impacts of Atlantic salmon farming on British Columbia’s wild salmon stocks. Partnering with scientists around the world, her organization produced some of the first studies on salmon farm impacts in British Columbia and continues to break new ground in this field.

In 2010, Morton won the Women of Discovery Sea Award, in recognition of her achievements in science and exploration. She has written 2 children’s books and 3 books about whales. Morton remains an avid activist and has contributed to many scientific studies and legal battles to keep the region’s ecosystem alive and thriving. She and her husband still live in the Broughton Archipelago.