Sei whale localization and tracking using a moored, combined horizontal and vertical line array near the New Jersey continental shelf

Abstract

In 2006, a multidisciplinary experiment was conducted in the Mid-Atlantic continental shelf off the New Jersey coast. During a 2 day period in mid-September 2006, more than 200, unconfirmed but identifiable, sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) calls were collected on a moored, combined horizontal and vertical line hydrophone array. Sei whale movements were tracked over long distances (up to tens of kilometers) using a normal mode back propagation method. This approach uses low-frequency, broadband passive sei whale call receptions from a single-station, two-dimensional hydrophone array to perform long distance localization and tracking by exploiting the dispersive nature of propagating acoustic modes in a shallow water environment. Source depth information and the source signal can also be determined from the localization application. This passive whale tracking, combined with the intensive oceanography measurements performed during the experiment, was also used to examine sei whale movements in relation to...