The latest edition to our video series on bioacoustics discusses the distinctions between Mysticetes and Odontocetes (whales, porpoises, and dolphins). http://ocr.org/portfolio/intro-to-odontocetes-mysticetes/ Enjoy!
Tag: whales
“Live” mapping of Cetaceans and Ocean Noise
Following up on last week’s newsletter on Marine Mammals and Mapping, there is some fabulous utility in mapping noise and marine mammals as illustrated in a benchmark program in the Stellwagen Banks National Marine Sanctuary (NMS). Chris Clark and his…
Mass stranding in the Ionian Sea
Yesterday, November 30 there was a mass stranding of beaked whales Ziphius Cavirostris in the Ionian Sea. The first reports came in from Corfu with three animals washing up alive, although two died and the disposition of the third so…
The Arctic is on Everybody’s Sonar Lately
Last week we attended an Acoustic Society conference in San Diego. This time I didn’t deliver a paper so it was mostly a reconnaissance trip – both to catch up with colleagues and to introduce Gwynn, our Digital Assets Manager…
Is the ocean really getting louder?
OCR mathematician Tom Reuterdahl and I have just finished a modeling exercise aimed at determining how loud the ocean was prior to industrial whaling. The premise of the investigation is that while some 50,000 cargo ships are now plying the…
Field Report from the Acoustics Society Meeting
I am spending the week in Baltimore, Maryland with a large aggregation of acousticians – perhaps 2000 folks, presenting papers and conferring about all matters acoustic. (A good collective pronoun might be a “treatment of acousticians…”) The field of acoustics…
Lunar connection on Hanalei Bay stranding nixed.
On the morning of July 3 2004 there was an agitated aggregation of Melon Headed whales in Hanalei Bay, Hawai’i. This event was concurrent to the RIMPAC international naval exercise which happens every two years. As is typical with these…
New Freeway planned for San Ignacio Lagoon
New Freeway planned for San Ignacio Lagoon San Ignacio Lagoon is the birthplace of a remarkable chapter in the relationship between whales and humans. The lagoons along the western coast of the American Continent, from San Francisco Bay in the…
New York Times article on human/whale relationships
This week New York Times features and article ostensibly about our relationship with whales, woven around a visit by the author to the “friendly whales” of San Ignacio Lagoon. The article (requiring a free NYT login) is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/12/magazine/12whales-t.html It…
Minke Whales harassed by Navy Sonar
Yet another unfortunate event involving whales and mid-frequency sonar; two minke whales were seen “porpoising” at high speeds in waters where military operations were taking place. Observers also heard extremely loud sonar concurrent to the sightings. Minke whales are the…