Marine mammal phonations of Barkley Canyon: A publicly available annotated data set

Abstract

Marine mammal phonations were manually annotated in a subset of hydrophone data collected by Ocean Networks Canada from May 2013 to January 2015 to produce a data set that could be used for algorithm development and marine mammal research. Data were collected near Barkley Canyon, a biologically productive submarine canyon approximately 60 km southwest of Vancouver Island that draws aggregations of euphausiids, hake, herring, and larger animals. The data set contains 10 905 annotated phonations from fin whales, blue whales, humpback whales, sperm whales, orcas, Pacific white-sided dolphins, Risso’s dolphins, and other delphinids. All three regional orca ecotypes are represented within the data set. Humpback whale vocalizations were found in nearly ½ of all files analyzed, and fin whales were conclusively identified in approximately ¼ of files though may be present in up to ½ of files. Blue whale phonations were uncommon and only recorded in the fall and early winter. While sperm whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, and Risso’s dolphins were noted in only 3%–7% of files, they visited the site most days. Orcas were rare visitors to the area. This data set will be made publicly available for further use.