[KWlocate] Helicopter noise results from Lime Kiln (+ humpback song!)

[Scott Veirs]

Hi all,

Thank you for helping with marine mammal sightings prior to and during 
the helicopter overflight experiment we conducted at Lime Kiln 
yesterday.  Thanks also, Ken, for the interesting comments regarding 
hazing, including with a USCG helicopter (appended).

The preliminary results from an overflight of the MH-65 Dolphin out of 
Port Angeles at 10 knots and an elevation of 25 feet suggest that the 
prop wash may be an effective way of generating relatively 
high-frequency noise (around 15 kHz) -- close to where the SRKW hearing 
is most sensitive -- probably through the generation of small bubbles at 
the surface.  Below is a spectrogram that shows how the power increases 
in a band near 15 kHz (as well as at lower frequencies) as the 
helicopter approaches the hydrophone, flies over it at ~15 seconds, and 
then moves away from it in a straight line. The associated audio clip is 
attached (compressed from the 96 kHz sampling rate).



As a thank you gift for all your efforts, thoughts, and careful 
listening I offer you this amazing recording by Jeanne Hyde of the 
humpbacks that have been in Haro Strait recently (but that were observed 
more than 2 km from Lime Kiln during the experiment) singing last night 
on the Orcasound hydrophone -- 
http://whale-of-a-porpoise.blogspot.com/2014/10/10-30-14-visual-and-vocal-kind-of-day.html

Here's hoping we never have to haze the Southern Residents!  I will 
update you once we have completed our analysis and generated a report to 
NOAA regarding the experiment.

Happy listening,
Scott in Seattle


On 10/30/14, 10:50 AM, Kenneth Balcomb III wrote:
> Hi all, I provided NOAA film footage of a USCG helicopter hazing 
> SRKW's years ago, and it was evident that hovering over the whales at 
> fifty feet was sufficient to move the whales several hundred feet away 
> from the prop wash. The method could be effective for brief small 
> scale changes in SRKW direction, but unlikely to deter them from large 
> scale movements - such as following a school of salmon in Haro Strait. 
> The 53C or its Canadian equivalent might be more effective at the 
> latter. The capture operations of yesteryear demonstrated that small 
> explosives and really obnoxious high speed directed vessels could also 
> be effective. But, the problem we face is that with whales spread out 
> over tens of square miles in search of scarce salmon, which whale's 
> direction do we wish to change?
> Ken

> On Oct 29, 2014, at 10:46 PM, Scott Veirs <scott at beamreach.org 
> <mailto:scott at beamreach.org>> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Heads up that tomorrow you may hear helicopter noises on the Lime 
>> Kiln live hydrophone stream -- http://orcasound.net/lk
>>
>> Beam Reach is doing some pro bono work for NOAA tomorrow Thursday 
>> 12:00-13:30 at Lime Kiln in collaboration with The Whale Museum and 
>> WA State Parks.  NOAA wants to know how loud the Port Angeles USCG 
>> helicopter is underwater to determine if it might be a useful tool in 
>> hazing Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs) as part of an oil 
>> spill response plan.  Val and I plan to make some calibrated 
>> recordings as the helicopter hovers or passes at different elevations 
>> and speeds.
>>
>> Since SRKWs have been frequenting Puget Sound this month, I'd like to 
>> ask for your help tonight and tomorrow morning in providing me with 
>> updated locations for SRKWs.  We plan to place observers to watch for 
>> marine mammals approaching from north or south and will suspend the 
>> overflight if the whales get within a kilometer radius centered on 
>> the Lime Kiln hydrophone.
>>
>> Please email locate at orcasphere.net and/or scott at beamreach.org if you 
>> hear any calls, clicks, or whistles.
>>
>> Happy listening,
>> Scott
>>
>> -- 
>> Beam Reach | http://beamreach.org <http://beamreach.org/?svig>
>> Marine Science and Sustainability School
>> 206.251.5554 | scott at beamreach.org <mailto:%5C%5Cscott at beamreach.org>
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> locate mailing list
> locate at lists.orcasphere.net
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