The Ecology and Acoustic Behavior of Minke Whales in the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands

Abstract

The long-term goals of this research project are to improve our understanding of the acoustic ecology and behavior of minke whales in the Hawaiian and Pacific Islands. Our specific goals are to develop and use passive acoustic methods that will allow us to survey, track movements, and monitor acoustic (and eventually non-acoustic behaviors) of minke whales. This will provide important information about the behavioral activities of minke whales at winter areas where they congregate in their breeding season. An additional goal is the assessment of localization accuracy for animals located from seafloor hydrophone arrays. This information is needed to estimate densities of calling animals from fixed hydrophones (e.g. the related DECAF research project). Ultimately, the information and methods resulting from this project will allow for more effective conservation and management of this and other species that are vocally active but visually elusive.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 2009
Accession Number
ADA531333

Entities

People

  • Len Thomas
  • Thomas F. Norris
  • Vincent M Janik

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Sensors
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accuracy
  • Acoustic Detection
  • Animals
  • Arrays
  • Breeding
  • Data Analysis
  • Detection
  • Detectors
  • Electronic Mail
  • Fixed Sensors
  • Hydrophones
  • Marine Mammals
  • Seabed
  • Surveys
  • Towed Arrays
  • Transducers
  • Universities

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Acoustical Oceanography.
  • Marine Mammal Biology