Shared Waters explores how marine megafauna and human activities overlap across Mexico's Gulf of California seascape. Focusing on the Bahía de Loreto region, the project examines how whales and other marine megafauna use habitats that are increasingly shared with vessels, tourism, fisheries, and recreational activities. By looking at wildlife and human activity within the same spatial framework, the project asks a simple but increasingly important question: where, when, and under what conditions do people and marine wildlife share the ocean?

The project integrates long-term ecological observations with spatial and environmental data to characterize species distribution, habitat use, and areas of potential overlap with vessel activity. Species distribution and habitat-suitability approaches identify environmental conditions associated with important habitat and examine how these patterns vary across space and time. Rather than treating human activity as separate from the ecosystem, Shared Waters places wildlife and people within the same dynamic marine landscape.

This interdisciplinary research project investigates the microbiomes of wildlife and environmental substrates in the Churchill estuarine ecosystem, a uniquely dynamic Arctic environment where terrestrial and marine species converge. Conducted in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) under the supervision of Dr. Steven H. Ferguson, the project explores how microbial communities—particularly bacteria—can serve as indicators of ecosystem health, interspecies microbial exchange, and disease risk in a region increasingly impacted by climate change.

The study focuses on microbiome composition and potential pathogenicity across a diverse array of Arctic species, including geese, ducks, harbour seals, ringed seals, polar bears, Arctic and red foxes, and belugas, alongside soil and water samples. By comparing microbial communities across hosts and environments, the project aims to uncover ecological connections and microbial pathways that may influence species health and ecosystem resilience.

Sample collection has already been completed, and the project is currently awaiting high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. This analysis will allow us to assess microbiome diversity, identify bacterial taxa with pathogenic potential, and investigate how microbial interactions are shaped by environmental stressors and cross-species contact.

The findings will contribute to our understanding of microbiome connectivity across species and habitats, supporting conservation strategies that account not only for wildlife populations but also for the microbial networks that sustain them. By mapping microbial “blueprints” across this fragile ecosystem, the project aims to provide tools for long-term ecological monitoring and Arctic wildlife health assessment in the face of accelerating environmental change.

This pilot project marked one of the first attempts to characterize the respiratory microbiome of free-ranging North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) using non-invasive drone-based blow sampling and long-read sequencing technologies. By examining microbial communities in exhaled breath condensate, the study aimed to uncover microbial signatures that may be associated with respiratory health and host–microbe interactions in this critically endangered species.

The project is being carried out at Mingan Island Cetacean Study (MICS), based in Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan, Québec, Canada, in collaboration with Dr. Richard Sears, founder and senior scientist at MICS. This partnership combines long-term ecological knowledge with innovative molecular techniques to better understand whale health in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Preliminary findings revealed a diverse and metabolically active microbiota, including taxa relevant to mucosal stability and potential health status. The study also highlighted the practical and technical challenges of working with low-biomass respiratory samples, informing future improvements in sampling and extraction protocols. This work represents a crucial step toward developing drone-based health surveillance tools that can support conservation strategies and facilitate the early detection of physiological shifts in endangered cetacean populations.