Beam ReachMarine Science and Sustainability School

Marine Bioacoustics course, FHLJuly 31 - August 1, 2007

Scott Veirs | scott@beamreach.org | (206) 251-5554

• My background– Stanford Earth Systems, 1992– MS, UW Oceanography, 1997– SFSU (web) and SEA (boat), 1999– PhD, UW Oceanography, 2003

• Beam Reach history– Founded 2003; Fall 2005 & 2006 terms– Environmental, Northwest, boat-based

school

Outline

• Lecture 1: Fixed and towed hydrophone arrays• Lecture 2: Killer whales and the ESA• Lecture 3: Orca bioacoustics and soundscape

Talk with me if you’re interested in studying or teaching with Beam Reach!

Fixed and towed arrays

• 1 fixed hydrophone (directional)• 2 fixed hydrophones (“ears”)• 3+ fixed hydrophones

– Orcasound– Au+

• Towed arrays– Flow noise– Cable noise– Signal processing

Outline

• Lecture 1: Fixed and towed hydrophone arrays• Lecture 2: Killer whales and the ESA• Lecture 3: Orca bioacoustics and soundscape

Talk with me if you’re interested in studying or teaching with Beam Reach!

• Friday, October 21, 2005• SE of Victoria, headed ENE

• 1 ITC hydrophone towed at 4.8 kt under sail

• Filmed/edited by Brett• Science with integrity?

Whale sail video

• Distributed world-wide• Matriarchal pods• Specialized group foraging• Fe/males live >50y, 30y• Sexual dimorphism

– males larger– 2m tall dorsal fin

• Sexual maturity at 10-15y, menopause at ~40y• 17mo gestation;18mo nursing• ~5 calves/reproductive female, but infant

mortality ~50%

Killer whales: Orcinus orca

North Pacific ecotypes• Offshores

– Squid, sharks, ??

• Transients– Marine mammals

• Residents (2000?)– Western AK– Prince Williams– Southeast AK– Northern– Southern Courtesy Lynne Barre,

NOAA

Distinct phenotypes and scars

Killer Whales, Bigg et al.

Distinct dialects (acoustic clans)

• semi-stable through time• SR’s have 1 clan, NR 3 and SAR 2

Time

Fre

quen

cy (

Hz)

– 70-125+ whales– Photo-identification enabled census since ~1970 – 3 or 4 pods (J, K, L, and maybe L10)– Inter-pod breeding, superpods, ceremonies– Chinook salmon, bottom fish

• What evidence? • Scales, stomach, DNA, POPs, cams, TDR

– ~32 calls in unique dialect– Salish Sea in Apr-Oct; winter distribution

unknown

Southern residents

• Pre-census history:– ‘Hunted’ by military and

fishers, 1945-1967– Aquarium trade capture

1965-1972– Then K~125; Now N=86.

• Risk factors:– Catastrophe (oil, disease)– Vessel interactions– Prey availability– Persistant pollutants

SRKW population dynamics

Southern Resident killer whale population trends 1974-2004

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

120

1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005

Year

Population size

71

97

7974

83 848

• May 2001: Population decline inspires CBD petition

• A distinct population segment (DPS)?– Genetically distinct (beyond taxonomy)– Unique niche (fish, not mammals)– Culturally unique (range, behaviors, & dialect)

• Dec 2005 listed; critical habitat being defined…

• A novel test of the ESA?– Primary prey is also an endangered icon (Chinook+)– Cultural facet of DPS (irreplacable complexity)

Listing as endangered “species”

Outline

• Lecture 1: Fixed and towed hydrophone arrays• Lecture 2: Killer whales and the ESA• Lecture 3: Orca bioacoustics and soundscape

Talk with me if you’re interested in studying or teaching with Beam Reach!

Laura Madden, 2005

Ceremony video: sonic culture?

• October 4, 2005, ~ 5pm• West side of San Juan Island• 2 ITC hydrophones, 3 m depth• Parts of J and L pod

• Calls (S1, S16, S19)

• Echolocation• Whistles

• Harbor seals• SCUBA divers• Transients• Humpbacks

Southern resident sound gallery

• Ships• Boats• Sonar

• Rain• Pile driving• Seismic…• Masking?

• Student projects– Laura Madden, 2005: Diurnal vocal activity– Brett Becker, 2005: Puget Soundscape– Peggy Foreman, 2006: Localized calls

• Development of hydrophone networks– Calibrated levels of sources– Ambient noise monitoring– Automated sound detection (winter

distribution)

Beam Reach research

diurnal pattern of vocal activity

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

9 10 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

hour of day

average percent vocal

Standard Deviation = 7.4Mean Value = 11.9

Vocal patterns I (Laura M.)

Six o'clock on October 11, 21, 22

02468

10121416

11-Oct 21-Oct 22-Oct

Surface Active SlowTravel/Foraging

Resting

date and behavior

% time vocally active

Mean Value = 5.8 - Standard Deviation = 7.0

Vocal patterns II (Laura M.)

Vocal Activity: 1 min samples, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. on 10/21/05

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

12:2412:2712:3012:3312:3612:3912:4212:4512:4812:5112:5412:5713:0013:0313:0613:09

Time of day

% time vocal

Mean Value = 23.0Standard Deviation = 24.4

Vocal activity over 1 hr (Laura M.)

Explore via link at http://beamreach.org/051/

Puget Soundscape (Brett)

Call localization (Peggy F.)

Results from a regional hydrophone network

Proven monitoring system

Hydrophones: ITC-4066

Bandwidth: 100Hz – 15kHz

Digitizing rate: 44,100 sec-1

Averaging time: 2 seconds

Reporting interval: 30 minutes

• Monitors continuously

• Detects and records automatically

• Computes statistical summaries

• Localizes sound sources

Collaboration with Val Veirs

(Colorado College/TWM)4+ phones, ~30m

offshore, ~10m depthCalibrated to measure

sound pressure levels5+ year lifetimes18+ months (4/04-

11/05)results

Orcasound

HaroStrait

SanJuanIsland

Victoria

Lime Kiln

Extant and proposed nodes in Haro Strait

445 orca calls within 400 m of OrcaSound hydrophones

Source level bandwidth: 100Hz – 10kHz

How loud are the calls of southern residents?

24 hrs

24 hours of ambient sound in Haro Strait

Winter ambient sound Jan 11 – Jan 13, 2005

~ 20 Large Commercial Ships Pass Each Day

dB

1/11

1/12

1/13

8 am 8 pm 8 am

Day Night

100

120

100

120

100

120

date

8 am 8 pm 8 am

Day Night

7/3

7/4

7/5

7/6

Commercial ships dominate at nightRecreational boats dominate during day

Jul 03 – Jul 06, 2004

Summer ambient sound

100

120dB

100

120

100

120

100

120

date

114

114.5

115

115.5

116

116.5

117

117.5

118

June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov

dB re 1

μ (0.1-15 ) Pa kHz

Monthly pattern of ambient noiseJune 2004 – November 2005

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Hour in Day

dB re 1

μ (0.1-20 )Pa kHz

Not Summer

Summer

Non-summer is October-April | Summer is July-August

Diurnal pattern of ambient noise

• Overall SPL: minimum ~95dB; average ~115dB.

• Typical maximum SPL~130dB; maximum~144.

• Ships are dominant source during winters and during summer nights (raising average ~20dB above minimum).

• Boats make significant contribution during summer days (raise average by ~2dB during summer afternoons)

Conclusions about ambient noise in Haro

Strait

EXTRA SLIDES

USGS

Testing node at Port Townsend Marine Science Center [link]

Deploying node at Seattle Aquarium in Elliot Bay

Future research: expand the hydrophone

network

Call duration (Celia B.)

Perhaps SRKWs don’t modify their calls significantly

in response to vessel noise?

S1

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

With WithoutVessels Vessels

Mean S1 Call Duration (s)

Echolocation rate (Wilfredo S.)

1.Foraging10 min sample (Oct. 6)Avg: 416.2 clicks/minMax: 582 clicks/min

2.Traveling10 min sample (Oct. 21)Avg: 15.5 clicks/minMax: 28 clicks/min

3.Rare pattern of clicks observed during foraging, not traveling