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Hydrophone

Jul 31, 2020

Endangered southern resident killer whales return to a quieter Salish Sea

Every year, Salish Sea residents eagerly await the return of the southern resident killer whales to their Summer feeding grounds. In late June, the orca community’s three extended family groups or pods were spotted off the coast of Vancouver Island. This year a total of 73 orcas—made up of J, K, and L pods—have returned to a quieter ocean due to the COVID-19 shutdown, and recent sightings suggest that a member of J pod is pregnant.

To find out more about these endangered social mammals and their future, we spoke to Ocean Networks Canada’s junior staff Scientist Jasper Kanes, who specializes in passive acoustics research methods to study at-risk cetaceans.
...

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Southern Resident Killer Whales | resident orcas | salish sea | Hydrophone | Jasper Kanes

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Jun 1, 2016

Listening station to study impact of ship noise on whales
Sep 15, 2015

In the News: Reaching Blue's Victoria debut
Jun 6, 2014

Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake
Apr 24, 2014

May 13, 2020

Hushed seas: monitoring underwater noise during COVID-19

A new study using Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) Pacific Ocean hydrophone data reveals a significant reduction in underwater noise during the COVID-19 shutdown, which may be good news for endangered southern resident killer whales.

When the coronavirus put the world on lockdown in March 2020, David Barclay, assistant professor at Dalhousie University’s Department of Oceanography, recognized a unique opportunity to monitor changes in underwater noise. Without leaving his home in Atlantic Canada, Barclay was able to remotely study the Pacific Ocean soundscape using...

Read more

Hydrophone | Underwater Noise | Southern Resident Killer Whales | orcas | David Barclay | Richard Dewey

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Endangered southern resident killer whales return to a quieter Salish Sea
Jul 31, 2020

Do fish talk? An innovative experiment to study fish using sound and imaging
Apr 26, 2017

Listening station to study impact of ship noise on whales
Sep 15, 2015

New Online Learning Resource Listens to Orcas
Sep 23, 2014

Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake
Apr 24, 2014

Hydrophone Records Possible Sea Creature Vocalizations
Apr 1, 2014

Spectral and Harmonic Analysis
Sep 26, 2013

Apr 26, 2017

Do fish talk? An innovative experiment to study fish using sound and imaging

Understanding whether fish communicate using sound is of growing interest and importance. Although many fish species are soniferous⎯they naturally produce sounds⎯we know very little about how and why this happens. Among the approximately 400 known marine fish species swimming in British Columbia waters, only 22 have been reported to be soniferous, although many more species are suspected to produce sound.

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) is partnering with University of Victoria and the Institute of Marine Sciences in Barcelona, Spain, to deploy an innovative experiment to study fish behaviour through sound and imaging. Combining video and passive acoustics (i.e., hydrophones) with acoustic imaging, the experiment aims to better understand fish behaviours through fish-emitting...

Read more

soniferous | fish behavior | Acoustics | SIIM | Hydrophone | ARIS Imaging sonar

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Endangered southern resident killer whales return to a quieter Salish Sea
Jul 31, 2020

Hushed seas: monitoring underwater noise during COVID-19
May 13, 2020

Listening station to study impact of ship noise on whales
Sep 15, 2015

Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake
Apr 24, 2014

Hydrophone Records Possible Sea Creature Vocalizations
Apr 1, 2014

Spectral and Harmonic Analysis
Sep 26, 2013

Introduction to the Strait of Georgia
Aug 15, 2013

Sep 15, 2015

Listening station to study impact of ship noise on whales

September 15, 2015 Vancouver, B.C.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA), with support from the University of Victoria’s Ocean Networks Canada and JASCO Applied Sciences, has deployed a hydrophone listening station that will monitor underwater vessel noise in the Strait of Georgia. Underwater noise has been identified as a key threat to at-risk whales.

Orca and Freighter​

Orcas in the Strait of Georgia, one of the busiest shipping routes in the world. (Credit: BeamReach.org)

The hydrophone listening station deployment...

Read more

ECHO | Whales | Acoustics | Hydrophone | underwater vessel noise

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Endangered southern resident killer whales return to a quieter Salish Sea
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Monitoring Canada’s ocean, coasts, and killer whales through technology and data
Sep 15, 2017

Do fish talk? An innovative experiment to study fish using sound and imaging
Apr 26, 2017

Collaborative stewardship for the Pacific coast
Mar 2, 2017

New Online Learning Resource Listens to Orcas
Sep 23, 2014

Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake
Apr 24, 2014

Apr 24, 2014

Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake

Multiple Ocean Networks Canada instruments recorded a magnitude 6.6 earthquake that struck beneath the seafloor off northern Vancouver Island at 8:10 PM (Pacific Daylight Time), 23 April 2014. Shaking from the earthquake was felt throughout Vancouver Island and by many people on the lower mainland in southwestern British Columbia.

...
Read more

earthquake | tsunami | Bottom Pressure Recorder | seismometer | Hydrophone | marine acoustics

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Real-time tsunami data from the Tonga volcano
Jan 19, 2022

Tsunami Monitoring and Public Safety for At-Risk Coastal Communities
Nov 4, 2020

Endangered southern resident killer whales return to a quieter Salish Sea
Jul 31, 2020

Hushed seas: monitoring underwater noise during COVID-19
May 13, 2020

Resilience through preparedness: remembering the 1964 ‘Good Friday’ tsunami
Apr 8, 2020

Drop, cover, and hold on
Nov 14, 2019

Expedition 2019: Highlights Story Map
Nov 14, 2019

Apr 1, 2014

Hydrophone Records Possible Sea Creature Vocalizations

At 04:23 UTC on April 1, 2014, a hydrophone attached to the Ocean Networks Canada cabled observatory recorded very unusual sounds from the Eastern Strait of Georgia (depth: 170 m). Click the following audiogram to listen to this recording:

Audiogram of the unusual recording​

Audiogram of the unusual recording. Click to listen to this recording on Soundcloud.

Spectrographic analysis confirms that these sounds were not emitted by whale or a ship. The closest sound profiles we have to this unusual recording are those of sonar pings, but they are confirmed not...

Read more

Hydrophone | creature | Vocalization | unusual | cadborosaurus | April Fools

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Sep 15, 2015

Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake
Apr 24, 2014

Spectral and Harmonic Analysis
Sep 26, 2013

Nicolai Bailly – Up and Coming Underwater Acoustics Engineer
Aug 15, 2013

Sep 26, 2013

Spectral and Harmonic Analysis

Although humans live in a world dictated by the steady march of time, and that we typically experience events in the time domain, there is an alternate realm in which periodic time series can be analyzed. Apart from the mean and trend, more complex and periodic characteristics of a time series may be revealed by analyzing the frequency content of the data. For ocean sciences, this type of analysis can be divided into two branches: spectral analysis and harmonic analysis. Both have the intent to extract information about the magnitude and relations of the periodicity, or repeated nature of signals in the time series. Recently, more advanced techniques, such as wavelet analysis, have aided some investigations, but they are beyond the scope of this brief explanation.

... Read more

spectral | frequency | spectrogram | amplitude | Hydrophone | harmonic analysis

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Endangered southern resident killer whales return to a quieter Salish Sea
Jul 31, 2020

Hushed seas: monitoring underwater noise during COVID-19
May 13, 2020

Do fish talk? An innovative experiment to study fish using sound and imaging
Apr 26, 2017

Listening station to study impact of ship noise on whales
Sep 15, 2015

Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake
Apr 24, 2014

Hydrophone Records Possible Sea Creature Vocalizations
Apr 1, 2014

Nicolai Bailly – Up and Coming Underwater Acoustics Engineer
Aug 15, 2013

Aug 15, 2013

Nicolai Bailly – Up and Coming Underwater Acoustics Engineer

Nico Bailly

One of our key mandates at Ocean Networks Canada is to find and encourage highly qualified personnel to sustain and advance ocean industry. At the Centre of Innovation, these young professionals-in-training come from a wide range of disciplines in engineering and science.

In September 2012, U Vic electrical engineering student Nicolai Bailly was brought on board to help develop the world’s first very low frequency (VLF) digital hydrophone calibration system.

Sensor Technologies Development Officer Tom Dakin had interviewed a large group of talented young students from the U Vic Engineering Co-op Office. But he felt...

Read more

students | Acoustics | Hydrophone | engineering

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Jul 31, 2020

Hushed seas: monitoring underwater noise during COVID-19
May 13, 2020

Teens dive into ocean science
May 15, 2017

Do fish talk? An innovative experiment to study fish using sound and imaging
Apr 26, 2017

Listening station to study impact of ship noise on whales
Sep 15, 2015

Magnitude 6.6 Earthquake
Apr 24, 2014

Hydrophone Records Possible Sea Creature Vocalizations
Apr 1, 2014

May 3, 2013

Strait of Georgia Hydrophone Array now Live at 170 m

Example of hydrophone data, collected by the VENUS Strait of Georgia East node.

We have successfully re-deployed the hydrophone system in Strait of Georgia at 170 m. Lloyd’s mirror is nicely represented in this spectrogram from May 2, 2013.

 

 

Read more

acoustic | Hydrophone | strait of georgia | Lloyd's mirror | spectrogram

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Apr 26, 2017

A Tenth Anniversary Inshore Maintenance Cruise
Jun 1, 2016

Observing Seasonal Marine Changes with BC Ferries
Apr 29, 2016

Listening station to study impact of ship noise on whales
Sep 15, 2015

Ocean Networks Canada teams up with BC Ferries to monitor Canada’s busiest waterway
Jul 30, 2015

Mar 22, 2013

icListen Hydrophone Excels in Innovation Centre Tests

Working with Canadian industry, Ocean Networks Canada Innovation Centre helps new technologies adapt for use on observatory platforms, by providing expertise to demonstrate and highlight new instruments for the global market. As a vital component of a world-class ONC ocean observing system, DIGITAL HYDROPHONES were identified as a high priority technology by the ONC science and engineering teams, and represent a significant global growth market.

Instrument Concepts based near Truro, Nova Scotia, has developed new state-of-the-art, fully integrated digital “smart” hydrophones with GeoSpectrum Technologies' transducers—making them ideal candidates for Innovation Centre technology demonstrations. A smart hydrophone is a highly sophisticated underwater microphone capable of...

Read more

Innovation Centre | ONCCEE | Instrument Concepts | Hydrophone | icListen

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Sep 5, 2017

Do fish talk? An innovative experiment to study fish using sound and imaging
Apr 26, 2017

ONC’s Innovation Centre: Serving the global blue economy
Dec 7, 2015

Listening station to study impact of ship noise on whales
Sep 15, 2015

Prototype Equipment Design takes ONC innovation from concept to reality
May 28, 2015

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