Where are the whales? Continued acoustic monitoring efforts of California’s Central Coast

Abstract

Understanding and conserving ocean ecosystems is a difficult, but important task made easier with bioacoustic technology. Although marine mammal monitoring efforts can be done with visual surveys, they often lack temporal information on a finer scale. Long-term passive acoustic monitoring efforts of critical migratory species can provide detailed information about the region’s marine soundscape that is key to conservation efforts. The aim of our project is to establish a long-term bioacoustic monitoring station off the coast of central California and help close the gap in our understanding of marine mammal presence along the Pacific coastline. The goals put forth by the bioacoustic lab for this academic year include (1) determining probable species presence, (2) ascertaining temporal (day/night) variations of vocalizations, and (3) examining key differences in species and call type between two deployments from Fall 2022 and Winter 2023. These comparisons will be crucial to help develop a baseline understanding of seasonal and temporal variations of the soundscape in our region. We aim to implement various long-term deployments in order to gather more complete and consistent bioacoustic data in our local waters. These deployments and the subsequent analysis will contribute to large scale marine mammal monitoring and conservation efforts. [This project was made possible by a grant from the Santa Rosa Creek Foundation and the COAST undergraduate research fund.]