Are you curious about whale depredation in other parts of the world? A recent publication describes acoustical research on False Killer Whale depredation of longline gear in Hawaii that could be relevant to ALFA's efforts in Alaska in avoiding sperm whale depredation.
"False killer whales depredate pelagic longlines in offshore Hawaiian waters. On January 28, 2015 a depredation event was recorded 14 m from an integrated GoPro camera, hydrophone,and accelerometer, revealing that false killer whales depredate bait and generate clicks and whistlesunder good visibility conditions. The act of plucking bait off a hook generated a distinctive 15 Hz line vibration[...] These detection range analyses provide insight into how passive acoustic monitoring might be used to both quantify and avoid depredation encounters."
Read the full publication here.
For more information about what ALFA is doing to prevent Sperm Whale Depredation in Southeast Alaska, visit our Seaswap page.
