Analysing Marine Vessel Effects on Whales in Boundary Pass, British Columbia

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Boundary Pass in the Salish Sea is an important feeding area for many species of whales, and is a major shipping route for commercial vessels as well as a destination for fishing, recreational, and whale watching boats (Figure 1). Boundary Pass lies southeast of Saturna Island and is identified as Critical Habitat for the endangered SRKW and supports foraging HBW, a species of 'Special Concern'. Critical Habitat for whales is protected by the Canadian Species at Risk Act with an explicit reference to acoustic disturbance as a form of habitat destruction. Vessel noise is considered one of the main contributing factors to the lack of recovery of the endangered SRKW, as well is a signficant source of disturbance for baleen whales (including HBW). Behaviour of whales around vessels in the Salish Sea has been assessed mainly using visual scan and tracking surveys. Since whales spend significant time beneath the ocean surface, this research proposal will pair land-based surface tracking with underwater hydrophone detections. We propose to use real-time streams of acoustic data to measure both ambient noise levels across broadband frequencies, but also to assess key frequency ranges used in whale vocalisations. Deep Learning (DL) algorithms will be tested for their precision and recall in detecting and classifying humpback and killer whale vocalisations. We will use AIS tracks of marine vessels, source levels and sound propagation models to assess noise levels at whale locations. I will investigate whale call rates as a function of received noise level and vessel proximity, as well as behaviour changes due to proximity of other whales. The overall goals of this project will be to evaluate how whale behaviour evolves and adapts to disturbance from ships, boats, and others whales in Boundary Pass.