Bird and Marine Mammal Census Data and Marine Mammal Acoustics on CalCOFI Cruises

Since 1987, seabirds and marine mammals have been surveyed along the CalCOFI transect during daylight hours while the ship is underway. Data counts on seabirds and marine mammals are entered into a handheld computer in real time and are available to filter or download on the Datazoo webpage. Information on methods can also be found on the Datazoo site. Bird observers participating on CalCOFI cruises are provided by support from the Farallon Institute for Advanced Ecosystem Research (Jul 2007 to present) and Point Reyes Bird Observatory (PRBO, 1987-2006).

Since April 2004, the Scripps Whale Acoustics Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography added a visual and acoustic marine mammal survey component to the CalCOFI project to study cetacean ecology and habitat. Visual monitoring is conducted during quarterly cruises by Cascadia Research personnel using handheld 7x binoculars. Supplementary Bigeyes (25x magnification) are used for species identification when necessary. Concurrently, acoustic technicians survey with a towed hydrophone array during the transit between CalCOFI stations and with sonobuoys while on station, allowing collection of distribution data on vocal animals that may have been missed visually due to darkness, rough weather, distance from transect line, being underwater, or other reasons. Additionally, long-term acoustic monitoring is conducted at seven CalCOFI stations using bottom-mounted, High-frequency Acoustic Recording Packages (HARPs). These data will provide information on the annual and seasonal presence of cetaceans, and may be used to evaluate daily patterns of vocalization behavior.