Today NOAA finally issued a new rule that will govern how boats interact with endangered southern resident killer whales in 2011, starting in early May. The big news is that the legal approach distance has been doubled from 100 yards to 200 yards and the proposed “no-go” zone along the west side of San Juan Island will not be implemented.
The rule will go into affect 30 days after the date of the official Federal Register notice. The NOAA web site suggests the notice publication date is not yet known, but will presumably be today or within the next couple days:
Apr. 8, 2011: The Northwest Region announced final regulations to protect killer whales in Washington State from the effects of various vessel activities. There may be minor changes once the rule officially files.
Here’s what the Q&A document says about how and why the final rule differed from the proposed rule and suggested conservation actions:
The proposed rule included a no-go zone along the west side of San Juan Island that boats would not be allowed to enter from May through September. The no-go zone was not adopted as part of the final rule. During the public comment period, we received a large number of comments specific to the no-go zone including new speed zone alternatives, different exceptions, and questions about the economic impacts of a no-go zone. We’ve decided to gather additional information and conduct further analysis and public outreach on the concept of a no-go zone, which may be part of a future rulemaking.
The “Be Whale Wise” guidelines have not yet been updated to reflect the new rule at http://www.bewhalewise.org/ That will presumably be rectified shortly, as the management, whale watching, research, and stewardship communities rally around the vast educational outreach that will be necessary to promulgate the new rules efficiently during the 2011 boating season.
A key issue this season will be how many resources can be mobilized for both education and enforcement. NOAA is forecasting a gloomy funding environment generally for their 2011-2012 fiscal year. Does the cancellation of the normally-annual survey for southern resident killer whales along the outer Washington coast by NWFSC suggest there will be even fewer NOAA enforcement agents trained and monitoring boat-orca interactions this summer? Will Soundwatch and Straitwatch be adequately funded? Given the state of the WA State budget, it seems highly unlikely that WDFW or the San Juan County Sheriff will increase their training or monitoring presence…
Thanks to Jenny Atkinson of The Whale Museum for the notice of the announcement today.
A popular theme of people living in the San Juans is a passion to conserve the whale population, specifically the Southern Residents. Beam Reach aims to give students a real world experience of what it is like to be a researcher or a graduate student. This is done by giving them tools and information to pick a topic and research it in a sustainable way. It also aims to have students think about how to present their findings both in papers, presentations, and now video.
We will use sailing and an electric motor to travel through the Salish Sea gathering data on killer whale behavior and their calls with the use of hydrophones. This opens up a wide realm of questions to be asked by students for their personal research topics. A full week has gone by in my adventure with Beam Reach. By full, I mean a whole week and a very busy one.
We first explored San Juan Island by visiting Lime Kiln State Park. It just so happened that transients were in the area.  Luckily, Kelsey spotted them from a window in the lighthouse. Talk about the stars being aligned.  (You can check out this blog by an avid whale watcher, Jeanne, who was able to track down the whales we saw.  Of course, that means her pictures are much better than ours.)  Hopefully, this trend continues in the coming months. We have also gone out on a hike, a kayak trip, and a visit to The Whale Museum.
Our brains were also very active throughout the week. We have explored many topics from Bathymetry to Bioacoustics through lectures given to us by friends of Beam Reach in the field. As you may have guessed, a slide presentation was usually displayed. If you have ever used PowerPoint, you know that it is difficult to zoom in without distorting the image. During his lecture on the Environment of the Salish Sea, Scott used Prezi to create his presentation. Prezi is a free way to make a presentation online that gives you the ability to zoom in! It also allows you to visually map your ideas to better show how they relate. I was experimenting and made my very own Prezi. You can check it out here.
I attempted to point out some neat features unique to this newly discovered tool. The path through the Prezi is also representative of how all of us feel after the first week. It has been a little overwhelming with all the newly acquired information, but it is beginning to come together for us all. I had a lot of fun making it, and I will definitely use Prezi in the future. I hope that it will help you make more powerful presentations in your future as well.  Go to http://prezi.com/ to get started on your own Prezi.
I will leave you with some food for thought. Â Here are the preserved brains of a Spotted Dolphin, Human, and a Fin Whale that are displayed in The Whale Museum. Â It is interesting to see that the brain size in these mammals are so similar.
Happy Learning and Teaching,
~Emalie
Special thanks to all of our teachers throughout the week!
Ok so it’s only been a week but a lot has happened so far! First we ventured to the most popular whale watching park on San Juan Island known as Lime Kiln State Park. Over 100,000 people gather at this park in the summer months to observe the Southern Resident killer whales that come right up next to the shore line! Supposedly they like to play in the kelp and corral salmon against the rocky shore. The lighthouse serves as a research station recording killer whale calls from a hydrophone in the water a couple meters from shore. I was  discussing my initial curiosities and questions about the whales in the lighthouse when I spotted a tall dorsal fin followed by a spurt of air from the water! Supposedly my eyes widened and jaw dropped. Immediately we ran outside with our cameras to see if what I thought I saw through the small section of the window in the lighthouse was true. At first I was worried that I was just seeing things and people wouldn’t believe me from that day on if I ever saw anything exciting, but about 4 minutes later we saw 3 transient killer whales heading north around San Juan Island! Supposedly this is a 1 in 1000 chance!  These type of whales feed primarily on marine mammals and are rarely seen this far south especially this time of the year! Am I a whale whisperer? Only time will tell…
Transients heading north from Lime Kiln State Park
Continuing on in the week, no more whales were seen but we learned heaps of background information relevant to our research. After only 4 days of lectures I can confidently say I have acquired knowledge behind pretty much all aspects of the Salish Sea and Washington state. Here are some the main topics we covered:
Physics of Sound
Lecture presented by Val Veirs; PhD in Physics from Illinois Institute of Technology
Bathymetry, Oceanographic and Geologic Background of the Salish Sea and Washington State
Lecture was presented by Scott Veirs; PhD in Oceanography from University of Washington
Ecological Perspectives on the Southern Resident killer whales
Lecture by Robin Kodner; PhD in Biology from Harvard University
After being here for only a week it is apparent that the San Juan Islands are a tight knit community full of passionate people dedicating their lives to these killer whales. They don’t only refer to individuals within pods as J1 or K8 but have chosen names such as Capuccino, Blackberry, and Doublestuf that allow any individual to feel more connected to the whales. What I am most fascinated by is the Indian art that floods the island. This art seems to illustrate the underlying history of the mystery behind these whales. At our instructor Val Veirs’ house there was one peice of Indian art that particularly caught my eye.
It was a huge wood carving of a killer whale overlain with a beautiful painting. I’ve been intrigued by native designs and woodwork especially of salmon and killer whales since I was little, so naturally I was curious to know the story behind it.This Tlingit story focuses on the boy in the dorsal fin of the painting and how he endures an adventure that eventually leads him to seek revenge on his two brothers in law. The boy does this by creating the killer whale from a wood carving and bringing the whale to life by throwing it in the water. Once the killer whale kills his two brothers in law in revenge, the whale asks if there is anything else he can do for the boy. The boy asks for one more favor. He asks the whale to never harm a human being ever again. This establishment represents the peaceful relationship between humans and these killer whales. People in the past have referred to these whales as “Devils of the Sea” but there has actually never been an instance where a killer whale in the wild has ever harmed a human being. The artist responsible for this artwork is named Odin Lonning. You can check out his beautiful artwork at http://www.odinlonning.com/.
Overall this trip has been quite the adventure so far but there are many more to come! In the next few blogs I will mention my classmates more often so you get to know them as well! The picture below is of us four girls about to go sea kayaking. In order from left to right is Ally, Mandy, me then Emalie. Updates will be available in the next few weeks!
Hello all! My name is Mandy, and I am a 3rd year Wildlife Ecology major from the University of Maine. We are already a week into the Spring ’11 Beam Reach program, and it would be an understatement to say that it’s been an eventful week so far.
We started our week off with a trip to Lime Kiln State Park (also known, appropriately so, as Whale Watch State Park). The State Park was absolutely GORGEOUS. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and you could see the Olympic Mountains towering over the water (above). Just as some background information about the park, it was mined for limestone to make into concrete back in the late 18 to 1900s. Kilns were built at the park to produce lime. This resulted in a lot of deforestation on the island, as trees needed to be cut down to keep the fires in the kiln going. Now, however, the forests are coming back, especially in the park area. We got to walk back and see one of the kilns that’s still standing, which was very cool.
So at any rate, we went to the park to brainstorm and discuss questions. We got to sit out on the rocks, in this beautiful setting, and come up with questions, then moved inside to the warmer lighthouse to discuss our questions with everyone. It was as we were discussing our questions that it happened. Kelsey was talking to Scott about one of her questions, when all of a sudden she stopped talking, left her mouth hanging open, and just kind of stared off out the window over Scott’s shoulder. Then her eyes got huge. It was most definitely the face of someone who had seen something. Turns out, she hadn’t just seen something, she had seen ORCAS! We all promptly grabbed binoculars and ran outside. There was a group of what turned out to be about 9 whales. We watched them a bit from the Light House, then ran and hopped into the car and journeyed up to Val’s house. We got there just in time, as they were passing right by. They were a ways out, but they were lunging and were definitely visible.
It was awesome because, not only were they killer whales, but they were transients! Apparently there was about a 1 in a 1,000 chance that we would ever see them. The hydrophone never picked up any calls, so we were very lucky that Kelsey happened to be looking in the right place at the right time. We were also mentioned (although not by name) in a blog by Jeanne (check it out), who we all hope to meet soon!
So, for those of you who don’t know, there are three different ecotypes of killer whales found in these waters. The first is residents (such as the beloved Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW) that we will be focusing our research efforts on, as well as the Northern Residents). The resident pods are fish-eating pods. They eat primarily Chinook salmon. Our SRKWs are found in three pods: J, K, and L. They are known for being quite vocal (which makes them prime candidates for bioacoustic research). In contrast, transients are mammal-eating. They are usually found in smaller pods, and are usually much quieter then residents are.  Then there are the offshore killer whales. Although believed to be genetically closest to residents, very little is known about offshores. They are usually found in large groups out in more open water, and it is believed that they feed on sharks and other fish. Offshores are also typically smaller than the other two ecotypes, and they make strange and haunting calls (Offshore calls were recently picked up on hydrophones in our area, and were recorded by Jan Twillert from Holland, an active listener of the hydrophone network maintained by Paul and Helena Spong at the north end of Vancouver Island).
Seeing the transients has definitely been the highlight of the program for me so far. However, it has all been awesome. I can’t get over how fantastically gorgeous it is out here. The islands are beautiful, and everyone is so friendly. We’ve learned a ton too. Probably my favorite talk was by Monika Wieland, who told us a little about the natural history of the SRKWs. She told us a lot of interesting stuff about the whales, and also a lot about acoustics. Jason Wood talked about bioacoustics, which was very interesting for me, as I’ve done a bit of acoustical work with bats in New York. Kari Koski came in and talked to us about the Soundwatch Program, which helps educate boaters on ‘being whale-wise.’ Because there has been evidence that the whales are affected by the constant vessel traffic around them, this is extremely important. Finally Anna Kagley talked to us about salmon in the area, which I thought was really interesting as well. Obviously, as the SRKWs primary prey, the fate of the salmon is tied with the fate of the whales. Furthermore, I read about a study done by Drs. Eric Ward and Eli Holmes, whose preliminary results suggest that the birth rate of the whales is most affected by Chinook salmon abundance than any of the other threats analyzed (vessel interactions and exposure to toxins). Therefore, it’s very good that efforts are being made to help understand the Chinook salmon population!
Vessels and resident whales... Helps highlight one of the threats to the whales (Photo credit to Kari Koski)
Wow, just a few minutes into the first discussion on Monday morning, Kelsey saw killer whales out the window at Lime Kiln State Park. This was a very, very unlikely observation. With such a good omen, I know that we will see and learn much from orcas this spring.
On Tuesday, I ‘lectured’ on an introduction to acoustics — waves, amplitudes, frequencies, decibels and all that jazz. Take a look at the white board —
Looks colorful at least, wouldn't you agree?
After nearly finishing this fun little discussion and demo, I noticed that I had a HUGE ERROR. I had defined decibels directly in terms of signal power but that is WRONG. Decibels are defined in terms of energy or power, and energy and power are proportional to the square of the pressure (true for all linear waves). Take a look at my ugly fix —
Here,in the center, I got the correct definition. Check it out.
It looks a bit like a blue outlined blobby orca, don’t you think? In any case it is right!
This year a new professor has joined the Beam Reach crew. Dr. Robin Kodner is an accomplished teacher, scientist, and sailor who we enthusiastically welcome aboard.
This spring, Robin is a lead instructor during the land and sea components of Beam Reach. In addition to working as a teaching fellow at Harvard for 5 years, Robin has taught two field research courses at Friday Harbor Labs (the Beam Reach land campus), and guided boat-based Outward Bound courses for 7 summers.
Robin has a PhD in Biology from Harvard University and specializes in geobiology and biological oceanography. Her post-doctoral fellowship (University of Washington, 2008-2011) focused on using comparative genomics and metagenomics to understand phytoplankton diversity and bloom dynamics in changing environments, like the San Juan Islands. She has also studied how we may harvest energy from algae, obtaining fuels like the biodiesel that powers our research vessel, the Gato Verde.
Robin enjoys helping students explore the Salish Sea ecosystem — from plankton to whales. When she’s not teaching science on sail boats, Robin can be found kayaking in the San Juans, skiing or climbing in the North Cascades, riding her bike, practicing yoga, or dreaming about sailing around the world looking for her favorite phytoplankton.
While you can get a good sense of the Beam Reach program through the highlight video from fall 2010 or spring 2010, Erin Corra pointed us towards another fun way to get a sense of the San Juan Islands: music videos! The following two were filmed on or above San Juan Island and include some good scenery from Friday Harbor, American Camp National Monument, inland roads and forests, favorite beaches, Kenmore Air float planes, WA State ferries, and local lighthouses — including the Lime Kiln lighthouse at the Whale Watch State Park.
This year we’ll be putting new efforts into using video to share the Beam Reach experience, so consider this inspiration and a prelude…
Dave Cade recently finished editing a great highlight video with footage he, his classmates, and Beam Reach staff acquired last fall while studying endangered southern resident killer whales and their environment. We hope you enjoy the new footage! He even mixed some underwater recordings into the musical sound track.
Soundtrack credits:
(Please support these artists by visiting their sites, going to a show, or buying their music and merch!)
Brandon Southall gave a great synopsis today of an impressive study (SOCAL-10) of how cetaceans respond to simulated sounds, including mid-frequency sonar. (Edit 1/20/11: recorded lecture is at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/11956611 ) Responses were assessed using data from a suite of instruments, including passive acoustic monitoring and tags attached to the animal that reported position at the surfaces, as well as underwater depth, heading, and received sound level.
The highlight from my perspective was that different cetaceans off the coast of southern California seem to respond differently to the simulated sounds.   While a sperm whale showed no mid-dive response to simulated mid-frequency sonar (210 dB 15-element vertical source rather than the military’s 235 dB 30-element source), a beaked whale showed a strong response mid-dive — it suddenly switched from swimming around in different directions to swimming faster (more flow noise) on a steady heading (see screen-grabs below).
Southall commented during his talk that “Beaked whales, like harbor porpoises, seem to be particularly sensitive.” In the interesting back story provided by the Smithsonian, Southall similarly noted that in the Bahamas “beaked whales seemed much more responsive than other species, like pilot whales.”
An outstanding question posed by Brandon today as he presented the slides shown below is whether or not the beaked whale was swimming away from the SOCAL sonar source or not. In these Matlab plots, the exposure is denoted by the black bar. I think the red circle represents the time when the sonar sounds were first emitted (at full source level?).
A dive during which whale was exposed to simulated sonar and responded with increased flow noise and steady heading
Post-exposure dive has little directed swimming except during ascent (as did the pre-exposure dive)
It seems an answer could be derived by estimating the beaked whale’s speed from the flow noise time series and then combining it with the heading data to estimate the whale’s track underwater. If the location of the whale when it dove is known (even roughly) relative to the sound source, then it may become clear whether the whale headed away from the source or not. From about the onset of the exposure for about an hour the animal was headed between -90 and -180 degrees.
Assuming a heading of 0 degrees represents magnetic or true north, the bulk of the response movement was to the southwest. The descent included some slow turns throughout the compass points, but was also predominantly to the southwest or northwest with the highest speed sections (based on the flow noise increasing with speed) occurring when the animal was headed generally southwest. So, if the source was east (or maybe north) of the dive location, then the response was probably away from the source. If the source was west or south of the dive location, then the response may have been toward the source…
Also, in the question session within the uStream chat window, a user named strandednomore posed a provocative question which went un-answered:
We would like to know why nothing was mentioned about 7 stranded/ship strike cetaceans that was found in California in September? Strandings included 5 endangered blue whales, one pilot whale and one juvenile humpback. Prior to SOCAL-10 and Navy tests in San Diego nearly no cetaceans stranded in California from January up to August, then suddently we had 7!
Overall, this was a great use of streaming video. Thanks to Orca Network for the Facebook reminder to tune in and a suggested improvements for the Smithsonian folks: clarify how virtual audience members should submit questions; respond to audience comments in the ustream chat window; provide a link to the archived recording immediately after the broadcast ends.
It turns out the sounds are made by the black drum to attract mates during spawning events. By “drumming” their sonic muscle — the fastest muscle known in vertebrates — against its swim bladder about 200 times per second, it generates a sound akin to a heartbeat. According to the abstract of Jim Locascio’s doctoral thesis (advised by David Mann at the University of South Florida), the black drum sounds are surprisingly loud:
Source level estimates averaged 165 dB RMS re: 1 microPa (SD=1.0) (n = 1,025). Call energy was concentrated in the fundamental frequency (94 Hz) and first two harmonics (188 Hz and 282 Hz).
At Beam Reach, one of our 2011 resolutions is to identify the source of a variety of grunts and groans that we often hear in the Salish Sea. We suspect many of them come from fish like rockfish and midshipmen, but we’re still narrowing down the list of soniferous (sound-producing) fish of the Pacific Northwest.
If you know about local fish (or other marine animals besides mammals) that make sound, or if you have recorded mysterious sounds that you suspect may be fish, please let us know in the comments. For the curious, here are some “mystery” sounds recorded in the Salish Sea — some of which may be coming from marine fish — while listening to the live hydrophone network we help run. One to listen for is a “chorus” of fish calls that often occurs in temperate waters within a couple hours of dusk or dawn.
Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook
