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One of the prime research applications for the VENUS hydrophone arrays is the recording of the local Orca whale pods as they communicate for social and echo-location purposes. In this gallery we have identified a few periods when Orca whale vocalizations were detected by the Hydrophone arrays deployed in the Strait of Georgia, south of Sandheads. The hydrophones are located near the bottom in 170m depth. Our researchers are interested in understanding whale vocalizations, how they are used for social communication and finding food (echo-location), and how these uses might be impacted by the presence of vessel noise.
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Use of Data Products must reference VENUS
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Five minute audio recording captured by an icListen Low Frequency Hydrophone in the Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone site (170m depth) on January 16, 2012 at 03:00:02 UTC.
Note: the volume of the icListen Hydrophone recordings is much lower than the Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone Array hydrophones recordings. |
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Five minute audio recording captured by an icListen Low Frequency Hydrophone in the Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone site (170m depth) on January 16, 2012 at 03:05:02 UTC.
Note: the volume of the icListen Hydrophone recordings is much lower than the Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone Array hydrophones recordings. |
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Five minute audio recording captured by our Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone Array (170m depth) – Channel 3 with a HighTech broadband hydrophone on January 16, 2012 at 03:03:13 UTC.
Note: the volume of the Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone Array hydrophones recordings is much higher than the icListen hydrophone recordings. |
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Captured by an icListen Low Frequency Hydrophone in the Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone site (170m depth) on January 3, 2012 at 15:37:49 UTC. |
Some whale vocalizations recorded on December 31, 2011 at the VENUS Strait of Georgia East Node location.
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| 05:27:27 UTC | 08:30:15 UTC | 08:40:24 UTC | 08:40:24 UTC |
| Hydrophone Array 03 and Hydrophone #1 (HighTech) | Hydrophone Array 03 and Hydrophone #1 (HighTech) | Hydrophone Array 03 and Hydrophone #1 (HighTech) | icListen Low Frequency Hydrophone |
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Audio recording captured by an icListen Low Frequency Hydrophone in the Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone site (170m depth) on December 18, 2011 at 04:28:10 UTC. |
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Audio recording captured by an icListen Low Frequency Hydrophone in the Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone site (170m depth) on December 18, 2011 at 04:33:10 UTC. |
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Audio recording captured by an icListen Low Frequency Hydrophone in the Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone site (170m depth) on December 18, 2011 at 04:38:10 UTC. |
A series of Orca whale vocalizations were recorded on October 4, 201 in the Strait of Georgia at the East Hydrophone site (170m depth) using Array 03 and Hydrophone #1 (HighTech).
These 20 second sequential clips capture some local Orca whales near the mouth of the Fraser River between 00:42 and 01:40. The system was set to log 1 minute files at a sample rate of 120kHz. Although we were near-by on the R/V Thomas G. Thompson conducting a high-frequency multibeam survey at this exact time, the vertical bands and clicks may be the whales echo-locating.
Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:42:40 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:43:41 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:44:43 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:45:43 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:46:43 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:47:43 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:48:43 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:49:43 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:50:43 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:51:44 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:52:47 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:53:47 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:54:48 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:56:51 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:57:52 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 00:58:53 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 01:22:03 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 01:23:03 UTC
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Whale Sounds – October 4, 2011 at 01:32:06 UTC
A series of Orca whale vocalizations were recorded on November 3, 2010 by the VENUS Strait of Georgia East Hydrophone array.
These 30 second sequential clips capture the whale songs over top of various engine noises. Although the whale pod location relative to the array is not known, there are indications that some of the chirps are received as multiple echoes from acoustic multipaths.
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Audio recording made on September 27, 2009 at 23:39:56 UTC in the Strait of Georgia at the East Hydrophone site (170m depth) using Array 02 and Hydrophone #2 (Burns).
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This is the first 30 second segment in a series that captured some local Orca whales in late September 2009. There is also the persistent din of background engine noise. Several whale chirps are present, often over-lapping, a result of either several whales or multipath acoustics, or both. Most chirps consist of a rising pitch followed by an abrupt drop. |
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This is the second 30 second segment in a series that captured some local Orca whales in late September 2009. There is also the persistent din of background engine noise. Several whale chirps are present, often over-lapping, a result of either several whales or multipath echos, or both. Orca communications are likely hampered by the presence of vessel engine noise. |
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This is the third 30 second segment in a series that captured some local Orca whales in late September 2009. There is also the persistent din of background engine noise. Several whale chirps are present, often over-lapping, a result of either several whales or multipath echos, or both. |
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This is the forth 30 second segment in a series that captured some local Orca whales in late September 2009. There is also the persistent din of background engine noise. Several whale chirps are present, often over-lapping, a result of either several whales or multipath echos, or both. |
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This is the fifth 30 second segment in a series that captured some local Orca whales in late September 2009. There is also the persistent din of background engine noise. Several whale chirps are present, often over-lapping, a result of either several whales or multipath echos, or both. Note the last chirp is distinctly different from the preceding series. |
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This is the sixth and last 30 second segment in a series that captured some local Orca whales in late September 2009. |
Some faint whale chirps recorded on September 23 2009 at 10:55:17 UTC at the VENUS Strait of Georgia East Node location.
