Skip to main content
Ocean Networks Canada

Ocean Networks Canada

Search form

Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn iconYouTube iconFlickr iconInstagram icon

Menu

  • About Us
    • About Us
    • Jobs & Opportunities
    • Events & Workshops
    • Contact Us
    • Support Us
    • Annual Report 2020-2021
    • Organization
      • Leadership
      • Staff
      • Boards
      • Committees
    • Funders, Associate Members & Partners
      • Funders
      • Associate Members
      • Partners
  • Science
    • Science
    • Active Research
    • Highlights
    • Science Plan
      • Summary
      • Science Themes
    • Publications
      • General Interest
      • Academic
    • Getting Involved
      • Proposals
  • Innovation Centre
    • Innovation Centre
    • About the Innovation Centre
    • Success Stories
    • Contact Us
    • Smart Ocean™ Systems
      • Sensors and Instruments
      • Technology Demos
      • Ocean Observing Systems
      • Earthquake Early Warning
    • Partners & Networks
      • Industry Network
      • Global Partnerships
      • R&D Support
      • Students in Industry
    • Atlantic Partners
  • Learning
    • Learning
    • Learning Highlights
    • Learning Events
    • Partnerships
    • Contact Us
    • Ocean Sense
      • Community Observatories
        • Cambridge Bay
        • Campbell River
        • Kitamaat Village
        • Prince Rupert
      • Teacher Info
      • Student Info
      • Resources & Lessons
    • Get Involved
      • For Students
        • For Undergrads & Grads
      • For Educators
        • Educator Opportunities
      • For Communities
      • Ship2Shore
      • Citizen Science
        • Coastbuster
        • Digital Fishers
      • Youth Science Ambassador
    • Resources
      • Learning at Home
      • Educator Resources
      • Ocean Alive!
      • Glossary of Terms
      • Research Ideas
  • Observatories
    • Observatories
    • Arctic
    • Atlantic
    • Pacific
    • Mobile Platforms
    • Infrastructure
      • Data Facilities
      • Platforms
      • Devices & Sensors
      • Cables & Connectors
    • Expeditions
      • Wiring the Abyss
      • Expedition Logs
      • Maintenance Processes
    • Notices
      • Information for Mariners
      • Alerts and System Status
  • Data & Tools
    • Data & Tools
    • Highlights
    • Data Quality
    • Preview & Download
      • Preview & Visualize
      • Data Download Tools
      • State of the Ocean Plots
      • Ocean Report Card
    • Apps & Services
      • Mobile Apps
      • OPeNDAP Web Services
      • Related Sources
      • Earthquake Data Dashboard
    • Data Help
      • Data Policy
      • Tutorials & Help Pages
      • Request Help
  • Sights & Sounds
    • Sights & Sounds
    • Terms of Use
    • Video
      • Live Video
      • Video Highlights
      • Video Archives
    • Images
      • Maps
    • Audio
      • Audio Highlights
      • Audio Archive
  • News
    • News
    • Stories
    • Newsletters
    • Calendar
    • Media Relations
      • Backgrounders
      • Downloads
      • In the News
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts

About Us

You are here

  1. Home
Aug 5, 2013

Listening to Deep Ocean Whales

“We can’t get there but our technology can” ~ Jasper Kanes, Co-op student

Passive acoustic monitoring of marine mammals is a growing research theme on both the VENUS and NEPTUNE observatories.

UVic Co-op student Jasper Kanes works with the Ocean Networks Canada Innovation Centre (formerly Centre for Enterprise and Engagement, ONCCEE) to process passive acoustic data from their technology demonstrations. Together with John Dorocicz, Acoustic Systems Developer, the two “listeners” publicize the highlights from these data within relevant research communities.

Jasper and John are helping promote Canadian technologies, which is part of ONCCEE’s mandate as a national Center of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR), while informing scientists of relevant data they can freely access from ONC for their research.

Recent marine mammal highlights include sperm whales at Barkley Canyon and fin whales in the Cascadia Basin (site formerly referred to as ODP 1027). They were recorded with Ocean Sonics icListen low frequency hydrophones.

“We’ve been listening to sperm whales almost every day for the past month, “ notes Jasper. “The clips we’ve posted are just a sampling.”

Deep Divers: the Sperm Whales

The sperm whale, so named because of the liquid wax spermaceti in its head, has the largest brain of any known animal. They are the largest of the toothed whales, growing up to 20.5 metres long. Sperm whales live in every ocean, and each sperm whale clan is culturally unique. Highly intelligent and social, these animals are one of several species that some scientists want to legally recognize as non-human persons. This designation would endow them with legal rights and freedoms, including freedom from confinement and the right to live. Research conducted by Dalhousie’s Hal Whitehead has been central to the inclusion of sperm whales in this legal battle.

For more information on Sperm Whales and the fight for non-human personhood, see this story: "Why Whales Are People Too"

Elusive Ocean Giants: the Fin Whales

At up to 27 metres long, the fin whale is the second largest animal on Earth. They can live for 100 years or more. Their 20-40 Hz calls are some of the lowest-frequency sounds in the animal kingdom. Fin whale populations were depleted by whaling and they are endangered on the IUCN red list. Their low numbers, high speeds and preference for offshore waters makes them difficult to study, and little is known about their population dynamics, ecology or habitat use.

Cascadia Research Collective is conducting a large-scale comparison of photo-identified fin whales from the US and Canada to learn more about these giants, while the University of Washington’s Michelle Weirathmueller is taking advantage of Ocean Networks Canada’s and Cascadia Initiative’s seismometers to localize and track phonating fin whales.

Improving our Listening Capabilities

Low frequency hydrophones are proving to be more sensitive to fin whale calls than seismometers. Ocean Networks Canada may one day further contribute to fin whale research by deploying low frequency hydrophones with Precision Time Protocol (PTP) timing.

With PTP capable hydrophone arrays, the VENUS and NEPTUNE observatories could also help researchers tracking marine mammals with higher frequency calls, such as sperm whales.

 

Acoustics | ONCCEE | CECR | Marine Mammals | Whales | sperm whales | fin whales | low-frequency hydrophones | hydrophones | Ocean Sonics | icListen | Canada Research Collective

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

Related Stories

Ocean Tech Alliance Canada: A National Voice for the Blue Economy
Sep 5, 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

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

New Online Learning Resource Listens to Orcas
Sep 23, 2014

Sharing Ocean Data
Aug 26, 2014

Calendar of Events

March 2022

  • « Prev  
  •   Next »
S M T W T F S
27
28
1
2
3
4
5
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Newsletter

Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter:

 

Tweets Follow @Ocean_Networks

 

 

Highlights

  • Audio
  • Data
  • Learning
  • Science
  • Video

Reading Room

  • Active Research
  • Backgrounders
  • FAQs
  • Glossary
  • News Briefs
  • News Stories
  • Newsletters
  • Publications

Cool Stuff

  • Apps
  • Digital Fishers
  • iBooks & e-Pubs
  • Live Video
  • Maps
  • Images
  • State of the Ocean

Data & Tools

  • Apps
  • Data Plots
  • Data Search
  • Data Policy
  • Data Help
  • OPeNDAP Web Services

Opportunities

  • Calendar
  • Educator Opportunities
  • Global Partnerships
  • Industry Network
  • Jobs
  • Staff List
  • Technology Services

Sites & Instruments

  • Arctic Sites
  • Northeast Pacific Sites
  • Salish Sea Sites
  • Notice to Mariners

Follow Us

Facebook iconTwitter iconLinkedIn iconYouTube iconFlickr iconInstagram icon

Sign up for our newsletter

Feedback

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

                              

About Us | Contact Us | Media Relations | Legal Notices

©   Ocean Networks Canada. All rights reserved.  2474 Arbutus Road, Victoria, BC, V8N 1V8 | 1.250.472.5400