Ingrid Visser - The New Zealand Orca Woman
Dr. Ingrid N. Visser was born in New Zealand and she is the only researcher specializing in orca in New Zealand waters.
Her research officially began in 1992 when she embarked on her life-long dream to study orca. Since then she has worked with orca not only around New Zealand, but also in the waters of Antarctica, Argentina and Papua New Guinea.
Whilst travelling aboard eco-tourism ships or on private expeditions, she has also contributed to orca research projects in the Kamchatka region of Russia; Washington, Alaska and British Colombia off North America as well as Iceland (where she worked with the team releasing “Keiko” the star of the Free Willy movies).
She has published many articles in both scientific and popular magazines, as well as founding 'the Adopt an Orca programme' and the Orca Research Trust, a New Zealand registered Charity. Some of her work has included; 'A Day in the Life of Lolita the Performing Orca', featuring Dr. Ingrid N. Visser (2014), Ocean Adventures: 'Call of the Killer Whale' - with Jean-Michel Cousteau (2008) and 'Soul in the Sea' (2013). She has written three children’s books as well as an autobiography 'Swimming with Orca' which was a finalist in the 2005 NZ Montana Book Awards.
Dedicated to protecting the orca, Ingrid believes in making science ‘consumable’ for the general public and as such she is often seen out in the community giving talks about these incredible apex predators.
Ingrid Visser
"Keiko was an amazing orca who touched the hearts of all who met him. I was fortunate to get the chance to work with him in Iceland, when he was being trained for release back into the wild"
