An acoustic survey for cetaceans in the Southern Ocean sanctuary conducted from the German Government Research Vessel Polarstern

• Main Authors: Leaper, Russel, Scheidat, Meike
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: International Whaling Commission 1998
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Drake Passage; King George Island; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52774/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/52774/1/3492.pdf

An acoustic survey for cetaceans was carried out in the region of the Antarctic Peninsula and Drake Passage between 50°W and 70°W, during RV Polarstern cruise ANT XIV/2 in November and December 1996. The primary aims of the cruise were studies of fish and krill, but space aboard the vessel was offered to the authors for use as a platform of opportunity for cetacean survey purposes between survey stations. A simple hydrophone array, sensitive to frequencies of between 300Hz and 40kHz, was towed on a 400 m cable astern of the vessel. A total of 4,140 recordings was analysed from 138 hours of survey. during which time the vessel travelled 2,794km. Ship noise was the main factor limiting detection ranges. Sperm whales were detected at ranges of ≥ 2km. Although there were insufficient detections of any species to obtain valid density estimates, the results suggest the presence of localised concentrations of sperm whales to the north of King George Island.