A collaboration between coastal First Nations and whale conservation groups is trying to educate people about how whales interact with sound.
Called the Whale Sound Project, it focuses on collecting whale acoustic data through multiple hydrophones, which you can listen to online.
CEO of the North Coast Cetacean Society Janie Wray says they have been monitoring whale sounds for over 20 years.
“We’ve been monitoring the acoustics of humpback whales, orcas, as well as fin whales, but when you have a hydrophone in the water, you become aware of not only whale acoustics but also the levels of vessel noise and traffic,” said Wray.
“A number of [non-governmental organizations] and coastal First Nations came together under one platform, and we’ve developed the BC Hydrophone Network. We’ve gone through and installed or upgraded hydrophones along the entire coast of B.C.”
Wray says they’ve installed 18 hydrophones, which is a difficult task, as you need to find a safe location. Once the solar panels and batteries have been installed, you need to bring it under water.
“We would have a cable and that cable is connected through the inter-tidal zone, and that’s connected to a hydrophone sitting on the bow of a boat,” said Wray.
“From the boat and with divers, we go offshore 20 to 40 metres, we lower the hydrophone and the divers are going to go down and secure the hydrophone in a spot where it won’t be taken away from currents. It’s positioned to get 180-degree access to the soundscape within the region.”
She adds that they hope to communicate the sounds importance to the community.
“Whales live in a world of sound, so how we use our eyes to understand and move through our environment, for whales it’s sound,” said Wray.
“Let’s say you are out on the water on a boat and the fog rolls in and suddenly you are not able to see very well, for a whale when they are in the water, it’s when that sound comes through, they aren’t able to do what they are meant to do.”
A link for a live listening from a hydrophone can be found here.
