2. EFFECTS OF ANTHROPOGENIC NOISE ON BALEEN WHALES PI: Whitlow W. L. Au Co PI: Alison Stimpert Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology University of Hawaii

3. BACKGROUND 1.Humpback whales are a valuable natural resource of the State of Hawaii – a multi-million dollar whale watching industry - an important tourist attraction - a part of what makes Hawaii, Hawaii 2.Whales use sounds for a variety of reasons communication socialization courtship sensing of the environment perhaps foraging by echoranging 3.Before determining effects of anthropogenic noise on whales we need to know what kinds of sounds they produce in various behavioral state and conditions Only songs have been studied to any degree

4. APPROACH 1.Attach acoustic tags to humpback whales using suction cup mounts a. Bprobe & Dtag in waters of Maui b. Dtag in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary Collaboration: UH NOAA WHOI UNH 2.Analyze data with custom Matlab programs

5. Megapclick SIGNAL TYPE Dolphin

7. SIGNIFICANCE OF MEGAPCLICK 1.This is first recordings of clicks that can be attributed to a baleen whale 2.The clicks were recorded when the whales were apparently foraging 3.The behavior of the whales while emitting clicks seem very similar to the behavior of sperm whales while foraging 4.There is a distinct possibliity that the humpback whales were echoranging. a. Possibly trying to find the bottom b. Determining distance from a herring school

8. Transient-form of Sonar Equation DT = SE – 2 TL + TS – (N o + BW – DI) Echo energy flux density Received noise Issue: Is energy in the echo from potential targets above the received noise? ocean bottom – megapclick measured at night herring school Is the echo audible to the whales?

9. AMPLITUDE/FREQUENCY (KHZ) TIME(S) Preliminary results: 1.Received levels low (152 +/- 6dB re 1µPa pkpk) 2.Whales change group membership frequently 3.Sounds common in groups with young animals MAUI Whale tagging in Hawaiian waters (Maui) Focus on competitive groups Comparison with feeding ground sounds (AK and Atlantic)

10. ALOHA!