DECAF - PMFR Minke Whales - Multiple Sensor - Automated Boing Detections

Original provider:
Density Estimation of Cetaceans from passive Acoustic Fixed sensors (DECAF)

Abstract:
The recordings used for the main case study came from 12 separate days in 2006, each with ~14 hours of recordings for a total of ~ 167 hours of data. The days were: Feb 5, 21 and 25; Mar 5, 9, 13, 17, 25, and 29; and April 2, 6 and 18. An automatic detector (see Mellinger ref) was run on the whole dataset, across all hydrophones. The DECAF minke study ended up utilizing 14 of the northern hydrophones from the instrumented range at the Pacific Missile Range Facility located off the North West part of Kauai, Hawaii.

The DECAF minke study initially utilized the 16 northern hydrophones of the BSURE range at PMRF. The sixteen hydrophones are designated 44-51 and 53-60. The two southernmost hydrophones were not utilized in the full data set analysis due to issues with the number of detections relative to the other hydrophones. It is unclear if the lower detection rate is due to lower density of animals closer to shore in shallower water, or due to other effects such as higher noise levels from Humpback whale song, or the sloped bathymetry at the southern phones. These hydrophones provide suitable bandwidth for detection of the minke boing vocalization with primary energy around 1,400 Hz.

Times are in GMT.
Hydrophone locations are only approximate.
This data represents call detections - individual animals may make multiple calls.
conducted by James Yosco (Science Applications International Corporation)