"The fact that we're finding when vessels are close to females, that they forgo foraging, is very significant, because those lost calories can have cascading effects on a female's ability to support reproductive efforts," she said. "Both males and females actually made fewer dives, and they spent less time in dives involving deep foraging and prey capture," said Holt, adding that "nearby" vessels included any that were within 400 yards (366 metres).īut that effect was more significant in females.Ī researcher with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration uses a boom to attach a temporary multi-sensor tag to a member of the southern resident killer whale population. Click here for more stories from Victoria.Identifying the different types of sounds the animals make when they hunt helped the researchers determine whether they were using echolocation to find possible prey in the water below, or whether they were nearing the fish and capturing them - a behaviour that includes such rapid clicks that it sounds like a buzz to the human ear. The tags used accelerometers and magnetometers to track movements and dives, as well as hydrophones to record vessel noise and the sounds killer whales use to track their prey. Holt and her team carried out the study from 2010 to 2014, using multi-sensor tags temporarily attached to orcas by suction cups. Coast guard throws technology behind protecting southern resident killer whales. ![]() Researchers aim to use artificial intelligence to save endangered whales in B.C.
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