As dawn broke over San Juan Island, Washington, researchers from the University of Washington set up to deploy a mile of fiber-optic cable into the chilly waters of the Salish Sea. The mission? To transform these lines into a continuous underwater microphone capturing the sounds of orcas and potentially gathering data to inform conservation efforts.
Utilizing Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), the researchers aim to record the clicks and calls of the orcas, examining how they react to factors like ship traffic and food shortages. This experiment could turn existing telecommunications cables across the ocean floor into a powerful network for marine monitoring. Scientists have previously tested this concept with larger whales, but orcas present a unique challenge due to their high-frequency vocalizations that the tech has not yet been optimized to capture.
Challenges facing these southern resident orcas are significant: with only around 75 individuals left, they are at risk from shipping noise, diminishing food sources, and climate change. This innovative approach could provide real-time data to help protect the whales, potentially notifying agencies to alter operations when orca presence is detected. The event marks a significant step forward in wildlife conservation efforts, aiming to fill in crucial data gaps to better manage and protect endangered marine species.
Utilizing Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS), the researchers aim to record the clicks and calls of the orcas, examining how they react to factors like ship traffic and food shortages. This experiment could turn existing telecommunications cables across the ocean floor into a powerful network for marine monitoring. Scientists have previously tested this concept with larger whales, but orcas present a unique challenge due to their high-frequency vocalizations that the tech has not yet been optimized to capture.
Challenges facing these southern resident orcas are significant: with only around 75 individuals left, they are at risk from shipping noise, diminishing food sources, and climate change. This innovative approach could provide real-time data to help protect the whales, potentially notifying agencies to alter operations when orca presence is detected. The event marks a significant step forward in wildlife conservation efforts, aiming to fill in crucial data gaps to better manage and protect endangered marine species.
