Expanding the Current Capabilities of Oil Detection Canines (ODCs) to Detect and Delineate Oils Submerged, Sunken, and Under Water and Under Floating Ice

International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg Manitoba

With:
Chiron K-9, San Antonio Texas
Owens Coastal Consultants
SL Ross Environmental Research
DF Dickins Associates

Funded by US Coast Guard – Great lakes Oil Spill Center of Expertise (GLCOE), Michigan

This project investigated the capabilities of Oil Detection Canines (ODCs) to detect and delineate underwater (submerged and sunken) oil and oil under floating ice. A US-Canadian team conducted two highly successful field studies at the IISD-Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in Ontario, Canada in 2024:

  • A summer field study to address the capability of an ODC to detect submerged and sunken oils at different depths in a freshwater lake.
  • A winter field study to address the capability of an ODC to detect and delineate oils under a floating ice cover in a freshwater lake.

Dickins Associates advised the project team on expected oil behavior under ice from past project experience and helped with the experimental design including oil placement under the ice. In the final report, Dickins provided a comparison of the canine detection capabilities with existing remote sensing systems.

This was the first time that a canine has demonstrated an ability to detect oil under solid ice as well as submerged oil on the lake bottom.


Poppy, the oil sniffing canine. Photo Credit: Lauren Timlick

Team member, Ed Owens presented a poster on the project at the Alaska Forum on the Environment in Anchorage, AK February 2025

View PDF ➜ 

International media outlets picked up the story and ran articles in many mainstream and local newspapers across Canada, in the U.S. and UK. Headlines and links here are from MSN and the Times of London.

Meet Poppy, an Oil-sniffing Dog and Scientific Trailblazer:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/meet-poppy-an-oil-spill-sniffing-dog-and-a-scientific-trailblazer/ar-AA1xMABO?ocid=BingNewsVerp

Dog more effective than machines in finding devastating oil spills:
https://www.thetimes.com/world/canada-world/article/meet-poppy-the-spaniel-who-can-sniff-out-oil-spills-under-ice-0ndl2nplr?t=1738849442595