Acoustic and Visual Monitoring for Cetaceans Along the Outer Washington Coast

• Main Authors: Oleson, Erin M., Calambokidis, John, Falcone, Erin, Schorr, Greg, Hildebrand, John A.
• Other Authors: SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY LA JOLLA CA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Ecology; Soil Mechanics; Acoustic Detection and Detectors; Optical Detection and Detectors; Acoustics; *CETACEA; *OPTICAL DETECTION; *ACOUSTIC DATA; ACOUSTIC DETECTION; OPTICAL DATA; SURVEYS; MARINE BIOLOGY; ACOUSTIC EQUIPMENT; WASHINGTON(STATE); VISUAL SURVEILLANCE; AQUATIC ANIMALS; SEALS(MAMMALS); ACOUSTIC RECORDING SYSTEMS; DOLPHINS(MAMMALS); PORPOISES; MONITORING; MAMMALS; COASTAL REGIONS; HABITATS; *VISUAL MONITORING; QUTR(QUINAULT UNDERWATER TRACKING RANGE); MARINE MAMMALS; VISUAL SURVEYS; ACOUSTIC SURVEYS; BALEEN WHALES; ODONTOCETES; PINNIPEDS; HUMPBACK WHALES; GRAY WHALES; MINKE WHALES; FIN WHALES; KILLER WHALES; CUVIER'S BEAKED WHALES; NORTHERN NIGHT WHALE DOLPHINS; PACIFIC WHITE-SIDED DOLPHINS; RISSO'S DOLPHINS; HARBOR PORPOISES; DALL'S PORPOISES; CALIFORNIA SEA LIONS; STELLAR SEA LIONS; NORTHERN FUR SEALS; HARBOR SEALS; ELEPHANT SEALS; HARP(HIGH FREQUENCY ACOUSTIC RECORDING PACKAGE); Pacific; baleen whales; Elephant Seals
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA496050; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA496050

Since July 2004, visual and acoustic monitoring efforts for marine mammals have been conducted in waters off the outer Washington coast. These efforts have been specifically to determine the seasonal occurrence of marine mammal species and to estimate their relative abundances, particularly in the area of the proposed expansion of the U.S. Navy's Quinault Underwater Tracking Range (QUTR) of the Northwest Range Complex. This has resulted in the first multi-year, year-round effort in 20 years to document and understand the presence of marine mammal species in this region. This report summarizes all data so far collected, presenting analyses of seasonal occurrence, variation in sighting distribution, and evaluation of relative abundance for all species that can be consistently identified from the visual and acoustic data sets. The original document contains color images. Prepared in cooperation with Cascadia Research Collective, Olympia, WA. Sponsored by Chief of Naval Operations, Washington DC.