Field Methods

MAIN GOALS FOR REAL-TIME DATA COLLECTION

• Get accurate start/end times of all species encounters.
• Determine overlap between acoustic groups and visual sightings of delphinids, so that we have acoustic encounters identified to species as often as possible.
• Collect group vocal period information for Gervais’ beaked whales (high quality recordings of Gervais’ needed).
• Collect high quality recordings of Kogia species and get group vocal period information.
• Mark start and ends of sperm whale vocal activity.
• Capture the changing environmental conditions/situations.

GENERAL DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE

We will be using Pamguard to collect and record data. There is both an aural (sperm whales, some dolphin whistles and clicks), and visual component (spectrogram, click bearing-time display), data entry form, and incoming sightings information on a separate computer, so your attention needs to be diverted amongst multiple screens and incoming information.

• Please keep in mind that while you will hear sperm whales and dolphin whistles, you often will not hear echolocation – the aural component is to reduce the stress of what to pay attention to on screen.
• Sperm whale start/ends can be assessed aurally, and for dolphins, serve more as a cue.