Paul Spong was born in New Zealand in 1939. Postgraduate work on the brain functions at UCLA. Began researching orcas at Vancouver Aquarium.

Understanding the benefits of studying orcas in their natural habitat, he established OrcaLab in 1970 on the then uninhabited Hanson Island near Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. He has since spent more than 30 years researching the ecology of wild orcas.