Meet the Dogs Sniffing Out Whale Poop for Science

Tucker hates the water. Unlike most Labrador retrievers, this particular 10-year-old male has a pretty healthy phobia of getting wet. He hesitates when confronted with even a tiny rivulet, and he’s definitely not one to fling himself in a pond. Rain doesn’t seem to bother him, but put it under his nose, and he balks. It’s ironic, then, that Tucker's job is to help track orcas in the straits hugging the eastern and southern shores of Canada’s Vancouver Island. As a Conservation Canine, or C-K9, he is specially trained to sniff out whale poop from the deck of a small research boat, allowing scientists to scoop up fresh samples for study.
 Tucker is one of 17 dogs working with the CK-9 program, part of the University of Washington Center for Conservation Biology.