DTAGs SRKW - Using DTAGs to study vessel sound exposure & effects on behavior in southern resident killer whales

Description

Drs. Marla Holt, Brad Hanson, and Candice Emmons of the NWFSC, along with collaborators from Cascadia Research Collective and UC Davis, are currently conducting a study using digital acoustic recording tags (DTAGs) to examine sound exposure, sound use, and behavior of Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs) in core summer habitat. The DTAG is suction cup attached and consists of a number of different sensors that record sound, pitch, roll, heading, and depth. The tag was developed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution specifically to monitor the behavior of marine mammals and their response to sound, continuously throughout the dive cycle. Prey samples and vessel data are also concurrently collected relative to tagged whales in a manner similar to previous work. The project research goals include the following: (1) Measure noise levels in biological relevant frequency ranges that are received by individual SRKWs. (2) Quantify the relationship between vessels and received noise levels. (3) Determine acoustic behavior during different activities and matched with fine scale details on movement, especially those indicative of foraging. (4) Quantify foraging efforts and determine potential effects of vessels and associated noise levels. The results of this study will provide pertinent data to address multiple risk factors of SRKWs including vessel disturbance, noise exposure, effects on foraging, and cumulative effects. The specific work that will be done includes experimental design, data collection, data analysis, and writing for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Southern resident killer whale tag data.

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 Noise level data from dtag recordings and associated vessel data collected in 2010-2012 for the dtag study (Houghton et al 2015 PLOS ONE). https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parrdata/inventory/tables/table/noise_level_data_from_dtag_study_20102012
0 Noise level data from dtag recordings and associated vessel data collected in 2010-2012 for the dtag study (Houghton et al 2015 PLOS ONE). https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parr/noise_level_data_from_dtag_study_20102012/data/page/
0 Data collected at the surface during focal follows in 2010-2012 for the dtag study (Houghton et al 2015 PLOS ONE). https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parrdata/inventory/tables/table/surface_based_data_from_dtag_study_20102012
0 Data collected at the surface during focal follows in 2010-2012 for the dtag study (Houghton et al 2015 PLOS ONE). https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parr/surface_based_data_from_dtag_study_20102012/data/page/
0 Data on the behavior of killer whales in relation to vessel distances and genders of the whales from 2014. https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parrdata/inventory/tables/table/killer_whale_vessel_distance_and_behavior_data_2014
0 Data on the behavior of killer whales in relation to vessel distances and genders of the whales from 2014. https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parr/killer_whale_vessel_distance_and_behavior_data_2014/data/page/
0 View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/17972
0 NWFSC Dataset Information page. Southern resident killer whale tag data https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parrdata/inventory/datasets/dataset/13598
0 The information provided on this page seeks to define how the GCMD Keywords are structured, used and accessed. It also provides information on how users can participate in the further development of the keywords. https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/find-data/idn/gcmd-keywords
33 NOAA Data Management Plan for this record on InPort. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/nwfsc/dmp/pdf/17972.pdf

Tags

  • cb (conservation biology) division
  • dtag
  • vessel sound exposure
  • northwest fisheries science center
  • killer whale
  • doc/noaa/nmfs/nwfsc
  • wa and gulf islands
  • behavioral effects of noise
  • national marine fisheries service
  • noaa. u.s. department of commerce
  • animal mounted instrument - animal mounted instrument (not specified)
  • waters of the san juan islands
  • bc
  • gps

Topics

Categories