Tina Yack

EcoSound Bioacoustics

No PDF available ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to explore temporal and diurnal variation in Southern Resident Killer Whale (SRKW) acoustic activity and their relationship to other marine mammal events and to anthropogenic activity in Haro Strait, Washington. In support of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority-led ECHO (Enhancing Cetacean Habitat...

No PDF available ABSTRACT SMRU Consulting, in collaboration with the ECHO Program, the San Juan County MRC and DFO, has been monitoring Salish Sea underwater soundscapes for the presence of Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW), to measure ambient noise levels, evaluate the efficacy of noise mitigation measures and inform potential management stra...

No PDF available ABSTRACT Odontocete species use echolocation signals (clicks) to forage and navigate. The aim of this study is to explore inter- and intra-specific variation in clicks among odontocete species in the Northwest Atlantic, Temperate Pacific, and Hawaii. Clicks were examined for seven species of odontocetes—bottlenose dolphins, common...

Information about the occurrence of marine mammals near the Colville River Delta (CRD), Beaufort Sea, Alaska is limited for most species expected to occur in this region. As part of marine mammal monitoring and mitigation for a seismic acquisition program August 25–September 30, 2014, we recorded marine mammal occurrence in a ~ 30 km² survey area b...

Habitat-based distribution modelling is an established method for predicting species distributions and is necessary for many conservation and management applications. Cetacean habitat models have primarily been developed using data from visual surveys. However, numerous techniques exist for detecting animal presence and each capture a portion of th...

The minke whale is one of the most abundant species of baleen whales worldwide, yet is rarely sighted in subtropical waters. In the North Pacific, they produce a distinctive sound known as the “boing,” which can be used to acoustically localize individuals. A vessel-based survey using both visual and passive acoustic monitoring was conducted during...

Odontocete species use echolocation signals (clicks) to forage and navigate. The aim of this study is to explore inter- and intra-specific variation in clicks among odontocete species in the Northwest Atlantic, Temperate Pacific, and Hawaii. Clicks were examined for seven species of delphinids in the western North Atlantic; common dolphin, Risso’s...

Odontocete species use echolocation signals (clicks) to forage and navigate. The aim of this study is to explore inter- and intra-specific variation in clicks among odontocete species in the Northwest Atlantic, Temperate Pacific, and Hawaii. Clicks were examined for seven species of delphinids in the Northwest Atlantic; common dolphin, Risso’s dolp...

Passive acoustic data collected from marine autonomous recording units deployed off Jacksonville, FL (from 13 September to 8 October 2009 and 3 December 2009 to 8 January 2010), were analyzed for detection of cetaceans and Navy sonar. Cetaceans detected included Balaenoptera acutorostrata, Eubalaena glacialis, B. borealis, Physeter macrocephalus, b...

A visual and acoustic line-transect survey of marine mammals was conducted in the central Gulf of Alaska (GoA) during the summer of 2013. The survey area was divided into four sub-strata to reflect four distinct habitats; “inshore,” “slope,” “offshore,” and “seamount.” Passive acoustic monitoring was conducted using a towed-hydrophone array system....

Towed hydrophone arrays have been used to monitor marine mammals from research vessels since the 1980s. Although towed hydrophone arrays have now become a standard part of line-transect surveys of cetaceans, density estimation exclusively using passive acoustic has only been attempted for a few species. We use examples from four acoustic line-trans...

Passive acoustic data were collected from nine Marine Autonomous Recording Units (MARUs) deployed 60-150 km in an area that coincides with the U.S. Navy’s planned Undersea Warfare Training Range (USWTR) off Jacksonville FL. MARUs were deployed for 26 days during fall 2009, and 37 days in winter 2009-2010. Data were manually reviewed for marine mamm...

Nine Marine Autonomous Recording Units (MARU’s) were deployed in a rectangular array at a site coinciding with the United States (U.S.) Navy’s planned Undersea Warfare Training Range (USWTR) approximately 60-150 km offshore Jacksonville, FL (13 September to 8 October and 3 December to 8 January, 2009-2010) at shallow, mid-depth, and deep sites (45,...

Beaked whales are diverse and species rich taxa. They spend the vast majority of their time submerged, regularly diving to depths of hundreds to thousands of meters, typically occur in small groups, and behave inconspicuously at the surface. These factors make them extremely difficult to detect using standard visual survey methods. However, recent...

Beaked whale echolocation signals are mostly frequency-modulated (FM) upsweep pulses and appear to be species specific. Evolutionary processes of niche separation may have driven differentiation of beaked whale signals used for spatial orientation and foraging. FM pulses of eight species of beaked whales were identified, as well as five distinct pu...

Echolocation signals from Baird's beaked whales were recorded during visual and acoustic shipboard surveys of cetaceans in the California Current ecosystem and with autonomous, long-term recorders in the Southern California Bight. The preliminary measurement of the visually validated Baird's beaked whale echolocation signals from towed array data w...

Currently, the acoustic detection of beaked whales during passive acoustic surveys requires trained acousticians to identify beaked whale signals with the aid of various software programs. The development of reliable automated detection and classification methods will enable passive acoustic approaches to better meet monitoring needs for real-time...

Balaenoptera acutorostrata (minke whale) is a small and elusive baleen whale that is rarely sighted in the tropical waters of the North Pacific Ocean. During winter and spring, complex sounds called ”boings” are frequently detected around the Hawaiian Islands and other Pacific island regions (Norris et al. 2009; Thompson and Friedl 1982). Although...

Sounds from Longman's beaked whale, Indopacetus pacificus, were recorded during shipboard surveys of cetaceans surrounding the Hawaiian Islands archipelago; this represents the first known recording of this species. Sounds included echolocation clicks and burst pulses. Echolocation clicks were grouped into three categories, a 15 kHz click (n = 106)...

The minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) is a ubiquitous but rarely sighted species that occurs in subtropical waters of the North Pacific during winter and spring. It produces a unique vocalization called a boing that is easy to detect and localize. We characterized the acoustic ecology of minke whales by detecting and localizing boings using...

Beaked whales spend the majority of their time at depth and are inconspicuous when they surface. Therefore, they are difficult to detect using only standard visual survey methods. However, recent advancements in acoustic detection have made passive acoustic monitoring from a towed array of hydrophones a viable alternative to visual survey methods f...

Much has been learned from the large scale deployment of acoustic tags on aquatic species and associated networks of riverine and marine receivers. While effective in the linear environment of river systems, marine systems limit the ability to provide spatial information on fish movements and distributions due to a combination of costs, logistics,...

Due to recent advances in passive acoustic monitoring techniques, beaked whales are now more effectively detected acoustically than visually during vessel-based (e.g. line-transect) surveys. Beaked whales signals can be discriminated from those of other cetaceans by the unique characteristics of their echolocation clicks (e.g. duration >175 μs, cen...

The primary objectives of the 2008 Oregon, California and Washington Line-transect and Ecosystem (ORCAWALE) cruise were to collect data for estimating the abundance of cetacean (dolphin, porpoise and whale) populations along the U.S. West Coast and for better understanding their habitat and distribution. This SWFSC project used a multidisciplinary...

Passive acoustic monitoring, acoustic localization and acoustic∕visual line-transect surveys of minke whales were conducted near the Hawaiian and Marianas Islands between 2006 and 2010. Acoustic data were collected using (1) towed hydrophone arrays deployed off Kauai and the Marianas Islands, (2) seafloor hydrophones from the U.S. Navy's Pacific Mi...

Softwareanalysis systems comprise an important stage in passive acoustic research. Here we compare and evaluate three animal acoustic analysissoftware systems: Ishmael, PAMGUARD, and XBAT. These packages are compared and evaluated for their capabilities at some of the common tasks in animal soundanalysis: recording, display, detection, classificati...

Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) has used combined visual and acoustic techniques to monitor marine mammal populations for the past 8 yrs. Currently, SWFSC passive acoustic surveys of cetaceans require specially trained personnel to monitor hydrophone signals in real-time. While effective, this method is time-consuming and costly. Automat...

Off‐highway vehicle (OHV) use is of growing interest to land managers. Trail counters are typically used to monitor OHV activity, but accuracy of this technique remains relatively untested. As part of an ongoing study comparing the distribution of American martens (Martes americana) with OHV use in the Lake Tahoe Basin, verifiable OHV detections we...