Friday, March 11, 2011

Orchive - 239B

Year - 2004
Tape - 239B
Date - Aug05
Time - 15:25
Annotations - 68
Whales - A30,A12,A36,A11,A35,A73,A24,A4 2,A43,A25,I15
Comments - Lots of rubbing and few calls to start then strong calls at 15:47.
Link - http://orchive.cs.uvic.ca/recordings/show/11915

Monday, March 07, 2011

Orchive - 237B

Year - 2004
Tape - 237B
Date - Aug05
Time - 11:29
Annotations - 147
Whales - A30,A12,A36,A11,A35,A73,A24,A4 2,A43,A25,I15
Comments - Lots of boat noise at the beginning of the tape, drops off 1/4 way through with some nice calls around 11:30 then boat noise picks up again at 11:40, loud close calls annotated (orca!).
Link - http://orchive.cs.uvic.ca/recordings/show/11911

Killer Whale Exhause Exposure

Cara L. Lachmuth, Lance G. Barrett-Lennard, D.Q. Steyn, William K. Milsom (2011) Estimation of southern resident killer whale exposure to exhaust emissions from whale watching vessels and potential adverse health effects and toxicity thresholds. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 28 January 2011.

Southern resident killer whales in British Columbia and Washington are exposed to heavy vessel traffic. This study investigates their exposure to exhaust gases from whale-watching vessels by using a simple dispersion model incorporating data on whale and vessel behavior, atmospheric conditions, and output of airborne pollutants from the whale-watching fleet based on emissions data from regulatory agencies. Our findings suggest that current whale-watching guidelines are usually effective in limiting pollutant exposure to levels at or just below those at which measurable adverse health effects would be expected in killer whales. However, safe pollutant levels are exceeded under worst-case conditions and certain average- case conditions. To reduce killer whale exposure to exhaust we recommend: vessels position on the downwind side of whales, a maximum of 20 whale-watching vessels should be within 800 m at any given time, viewing periods should be limited, and current whale-watch guidelines and laws should be enforced.

Soundwatch