Protecting Killer Whales in Salish Sea: Cabled Underwater Listening Station Monitors Ship Noise
July 2021
Featured in: Sea Technology magazine
The Salish Sea sees more than 12,000 large merchant ship transits and over 300,000 ferry crossings. These busy waters are also home to over 37 species of marine mammals, including the endangered Southern Resident killer whale. JASCO was contracted by Transport Canada to develop, deploy and operate a $9.5 million cabled observatory, with 3 main goals: (1) systematically measure underwater noise emissions of the large commercial vessels calling ports in southern BC; (2) detect and localize/track vocalizing cetaceans; and (3) document the underwater noise environment over many years.
Contributed by JASCO’s Nicole Chorney, Jack Hennessey, and David Hannay.
