Beam Reach Marine Science and Sustainability School Marine Bioacoustics course, FHL July 31 - August 1, 2007 Scott Veirs | | (206)

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 Frequency (Hz)

– 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, –Aquarium trade capture –Then K~125; Now N=86. Risk factors: –Catastrophe (oil, disease) –Vessel interactions –Prey availability –Persistant pollutants SRKW population dynamics

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

Vocal patterns I (Laura M.)

Vocal patterns II (Laura M.)

Vocal activity over 1 hr (Laura M.)

Explore via link at 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 depth Calibrated to measure sound pressure levels 5+ year lifetimes 18+ months (4/04- 11/05)results Orcasound Haro Strait San Juan Island 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 am8 pm8 am DayNight date

8 am8 pm8 am DayNight 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 dB date

Monthly pattern of ambient noise June 2004 – November 2005

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

USG S Testing node at Port Townsend Marine Science Center [link]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

Echolocation rate (Wilfredo S.) 1.Foraging 10 min sample (Oct. 6) Avg: clicks/min Max: 582 clicks/min 2.Traveling 10 min sample (Oct. 21) Avg: 15.5 clicks/min Max: 28 clicks/min 3.Rare pattern of clicks observed during foraging, not traveling