Sound Footprints of Vessel Traffic and Humpback Whales in Glacier Bay

Description

A visualization of a day in Glacier Bay shows the sound footprints of humpback whales and vessels on a peak-summer vessel traffic day. Using computer models, we were able to estimate and quantitatively compare how far a whale or seal’s vocalizations could travel in quiet conditions vs. during wind and vessel noise. The results suggested that synchronizing vessel entries into the bay is one way that managers can improve the underwater acoustic environment and benefit the the marine mammals that rely on it.

Duration

36.1 seconds

Credit

Video courtesy of D. Ponirakis, Cornell University's Center for Conservation Bioacoustics.

Copyright and Usage Info

View Usage Information Multimedia credited to NPS without any copyright symbol are public domain. Multimedia credited with a copyright symbol (indicating that the creator may maintain rights to the work) or credited to any entity other than NPS must not be presumed to be public domain; contact the host park or program to ascertain who owns the material. « Hide Usage Information