California Current Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey and Use of Data to Produce and Validate Cetacean and Seabird Density Maps

Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) conducted a dedicated acoustic survey for cetaceans throughout the California Current off the US West Coast in August and September 2016. The survey, Passive Acoustic Survey of Cetacean Abundance Levels (PASCAL), was conducted from the NOAA R/V Bell M. Shimada in search of beaked whales (family Ziphiidae), sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus), and dwarf and pygmy sperm whales (genus Kogia). A network of Drifting Acoustic Spar Buoy Recorders was deployed 30 times to collect and towed array surveys were conducted in between deployments. 388 days of recording effort revealed 1011 detections of beaked whales in 2-min files. The total number of sightings during surveys from 1991 to 2014 for Cuvier’s beaked whales, Baird’s beaked whales, and Mesoplodon beaked whales from all seven surveys are 63, 27, and 38, respectively. Although the acoustic detections on DASBRs are not all independent as some clearly represent multiple detections during a single dive, the magnitude of the overall detection rate on DASBRs for these species is much greater (727, 90, and 111, respectively). We anticipate the high detection rate on DASBRs will provide much more precise estimates of beaked whale abundance than has been previously possible.

USD: $150,000

2016-08-19 → 2016-09-30