Acoustic Signals of Beaked Whales

For many whales, we still know little of where they occur and even what species exist. This is true for an elusive group of whales known as beaked whales. One method to study these deep-diving, offshore animals is acoustic recordings. Each beaked whale species is thought to produce a unique sound, called a click. Many beaked whale clicks have been reported around the globe that have yet to be assigned to species and new click types have been discovered that have yet to be characterized. The aim of this project is to provide an updated description of unknown beaked whale clicks globally and attempt to assign them to any known species or propose new species of beaked whales. This work will allow the partner organization, JASCO Applied Sciences, to better report on species occurrence in the data they collect using both automated methods and manual analysis of recorded sounds.

Faculty Supervisor:

Hal Whitehead

Student:

Partner:

JASCO Applied Sciences (NS)

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Dalhousie University

Program: