Fred Whoriskey is executive director of the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) and is a partner on the Apoqnmatulti'k project.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and raised in the area around Boston. I spent the summers on the south shore in Scituate where my affection for the ocean grew and grew.
Fred Whoriskey and Sara Iverson accept the Nature Inspiration Award from the Canadian Museum of Nature in 2016.
What is a typical day like in this job?
My prime function now is to find the resources and raise the money needed to support the students and field staff who do OTN’s actual work (research and infrastructure operations and maintenance). I also look after various administrative and reporting issues. I do occasionally sneak out to join the field crew.
What do you enjoy most about your role as Executive Director of OTN?
I enjoy the opportunity to draw on my knowledge and experience to help initiate important projects like Apoqnmatulti’k, that will help redefine human relationships with the natural world in ways that will be good for all people and the environment in the long term.
Fred Whoriskey (left) and Rick Mercer (right) snorkelling during a shark tagging trip for the Rick Mercer Report.
How is your role with Apoqnmatulti’k different from other projects that you’ve been a part of?
Not so different, at least for the projects I have worked on in the last 10 years. This project has reinforced the importance and need for openness, communication, and patience as we bring together Mi’kmaw and local knowledge into every aspect of the experimental design. If you think about it, why would you not want to do that with all science?
What does Apoqnmatulti’k mean to you?
I have been deeply affected by the profound respect our Mi’kmaw partners have for the environment and for the animals that we are all working with. Western scientists tend to view an animal as a data point, whereas for our First Nation partners it is a personal relationship. I guess I have been converging towards this worldview for a long time, but I am much comforted by the Mi’kmaw approach and it will help guide me through the rest of my career.
Fred Whoriskey tagging an electric torpedo ray. Photo: Chris Harvey-Clark.
Why do you think animal tracking is important?
Animals move because they cannot meet all of their needs in one place. If we shut off the pathways or routes that the animals need to make movements, they die. If we know what these pathways are and when they are used, we can manage human activities in ways that keep them open. This is good for the animals and good for the people who depend on them.
What is something most people may not know about lobster and/or eel in the Bras d’Or Lake?
Did you know that there are both left-handed and right-handed lobsters? Does it make a difference in the species behavior or survival if the animal is right-handed instead of left-handed? That is something that has interested me for a long time. Maybe this project will let us learn something about that.
What are you most proud of with Apoqnmatulti’k?
The way our students in the project are embracing the combination of Mi’kmaw, local, and western knowledge streams, and have coped with the stress of COVID-19 impacts on their work. They have been real champs.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Almost anything that is not work. That includes drywalling.