Whale Sounds

1
Analyzing the Date - Call detection
Ishmael software (by David Mellinger, NOAA PMEL)

• Spectrogram correlation with synthetic call
• Varied synthetic call parameters
• Compared detector performance to analyst (LMM)

2
Right whale and humpback calls
Right whale calls Up-call most common (gt
80) Clustered into bouts
Humpback whale calls May appear similar to RW
calls Patterned, repeated phrases
3
Results
Right whale seasonal occurrence
SEBS middle-shelf

• Earliest yearly right whale detections in late
  May (2002, 2004)
• Latest in mid-December (2005)
• Highest calling rates in Aug., Sep. (2001, 2004,
  2005) Dec. (2005)
• Longest calling durations in Aug., Sep., Oct.
• Calling usually lasted 2-3 consecutive days, up
  to 6 d
• Intervals between calls 2-49 d (median 7)

2000-2005
Right whale calls/day
J F M A M J J A S
O N D
4
Daily Calling Patterns

• Hourly calling rates calculated for five periods
  of day
• Adjusted by overall calling rate for that day
• Calling rates were highest during dark period

5
Conclusions

• Right whale occurrence varied by season and
  between years
• Calls were detected for only a few days at a time
• Calling rates were highest at night
• Right whales were in the Southeast Bering Sea as
  early as May and as late as December