All the Whales

This is a guest post by University of New Mexico graduate student, Sarah Nolt-Caraway…go for it, Sarah!

During this cruise, we have an amazing opportunity to sea the vast marine life in the North Pacific Ocean. We have seen everything from humpback whales, fin whales, dolphins, great white sharks, sunfish, all types of birds, and porpoises- just to name a few. An important aspect of this cruise is observing these sea critters and monitoring the protected species, such as marine mammals, sea turtles, and several species of birds.  This is to minimize the potential effects of the seismic survey.

Great white shark beneath the glassy sea surface.

There are an additional five scientists on this vessel that take part in monitoring the marine life. These are the Protected Species Observers (PSO’s). They are licensed, approved by government agencies, and independently contracted. During visible hours and good weather, the PSO’s work in the observation tower, equipped with bigeye binoculars, which can see for several kilometers out, as well as DSLR cameras. At all hours of the day and night, there is always a PSO using the passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) system. PAM is a four-hydrophone array, off the port stern, designed to detect and localize different whale and dolphin species vocalizations.

Sea spray from a blue whale

So, what if the PSO’s observe marine life? First, they must determine what species it is. If it is a protected species, they then determine distance the species is from the vessel. If the species is within the countries’ designated radius, they call the lab to inform us to disable our sound source. These silent periods last typically 30 minutes to an hour after visualization.

The PSO’s workday and night during the entire cruise. They collect crucial information about these species and the environment. At the end of the cruise, the PSO’s put together a comprehensive final report about their observations, including photos taken, sightings, key identifiers of the species, and behavior; and submit it to the agencies that approved the seismic survey. The information collected and submitted in this report is further used for the broader understanding of these species, such as migratory, feeding, and mating behaviors.

Humpback whale beginning a dive

It has been an incredible experience to work along the PSO’s, as they have provided the researchers and crew members and opportunity to see extraordinary sightings of marine life. They also have spectacular photos of the marine life, which are included in this post.