SOARing for data Assessing the body condition of Cuviers beaked whales on a Navy sonar range using aerial photogrammetry
Abstract
Long-term research has documented a resident population of Cuvier#s beaked whales demonstrating high site-fidelity to the San Nicolas Basin, and area of frequent Navy Mid-Frequency Active Sonar. While individuals have been documented clearly changing their behavior in response to sonar exposure, the same individuals have been documented in the region spanning periods as long as 16 years. While boat-based photography is key for documenting individuals, as well as some demographic information, the images are not great for determining body size measurements, which can indicate age/sex, health, and even pregnancy assessment. Therefore, aerial photogrammetry has been identified as a high priority data input for understanding the effects of disturbance on populations. Here, we propose to integrate photogrammetric data collection into our long-term study on Cuvier#s beaked whales in and around the Southern California Antisubmarine Warfare Range (SOAR) and compare these to photogrammetric measurements collected from whales at the comparatively undisturbed site of Guadalupe Island, Mexico.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 24, 2023
- Source ID
- N000142312622
Entities
People
- Gregory S Schorr
Organizations
- Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy