Killer Whale Tracker

The Salish Sea Hydrophone Network needs volunteers to help monitor the critical habitat of endangered Pacific Northwest killer whales by detecting orca sounds and measuring ambient noise levels. Volunteers are especially needed to help notify researchers when orcas are in the Salish Sea, which encompasses the waters of Puget Sound and the surrounding area.

Sponsored by a coalition of organizations, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Whale Museum, and Beam Reach Marine Science, the network consists of five hydrophones, each hooked up to a computer to analyze the signal and stream it via the internet.

Even though software is used to distinguish animal from other underwater sound, human ears do a better job of detecting unusual sounds. So volunteers monitor the network from their home computers anywhere in the world, and alert the rest of the network when they hear whale sounds. Sometimes boats or onshore monitors are deployed to study the whales in other ways. Researchers hope to learn more about the uses of orca communications and whale migration patterns.

萨利什海水听器网络（Salish Sea Hydrophone Network）现招募志愿者，以协助监测濒危太平洋西北虎鲸的关键栖息地，具体工作包括检测虎鲸声响并测量环境噪声水平。志愿者的核心任务之一，是在虎鲸进入涵盖普吉特湾及周边水域的萨利什海时，及时通知研究团队。该网络由包括美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration）、鲸鱼博物馆（Whale Museum）与Beam Reach海洋科学中心在内的多家组织联合赞助，共部署五台水听器，每台均连接至计算机以完成信号分析，并通过互联网传输信号流。尽管现有软件可区分动物声响与其他水下噪声，但人类听觉更擅长识别异常声响。因此志愿者可通过全球任意地点的家用计算机远程监控该网络，在侦测到鲸类声响时向网络其他成员发出警报。此外，研究团队有时也会部署船只或岸基监测设备，以其他方式开展鲸类研究。研究人员期望进一步探明虎鲸的通讯用途与鲸类迁徙模式。