Listening to Whales

Ever wanted to eavesdrop on whales in the wild? Did you know there are hydrophones throughout the Salish Sea that you can tune into to listen to what whales are saying? Whales you might hear include Southern Resident Killer Whales (J-clan whales), Bigg’s (Transients) Killer Whales, Humpback Whales, Grey whales and in 2018 some lucky listeners heard the unmistakable sound of the loudest mammal on earth, a Sperm Whale (confirmed sighting of Yukusam by my dear friend and fellow orcaholic Taylor). Other sounds you might hear on the hydrophone include tankers/container ships, ferry boats, pleasure water craft, commercial and private fishing boats, and, of course, various nature sounds (water lapping, waves crashing, and other sea life).

At any given time, there might be dozens of people tuned into the hydrophones hoping to be the first to hear the unmistakable sounds of Southern Resident killer whales approaching Lime Kiln Lighthouse or a Humpback whale singing into the night. Once the calls or song of a whale have been heard, a ripple of excitement runs through the whale community as does a sense of wonderment at being able to eavesdrop on what happens below the surface. If you’re fortunate enough to be the first to hear these unique vocalizations, you often second guess yourself. “Did I really just hear that? That definitely wasn’t a whale! Wait, that was definitely a whale.” And then, you do what comes naturally, YOU TELL EVERYONE!

It is a well-known fact that over the past two decades there have been more frequent sightings of Humpback whales in the Salish Sea. In 1970, the Humpback whales were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Conservation Act, the predecessor of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). When the ESA was passed in 1973, Humpback whales were listed as endangered throughout their range. In that same year, Humpback whales were designated as "depleted" under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA). However, since the early 2000s we have seen a remarkable population rebound in North Pacific Humpback whales, with an estimated current population of about 24,000-26,000 individuals. Here in the Salish Sea we have seen this recovery first hand. Between 2000-2002, the first reliable sightings of Humpback whales occurred in our waters, including an individual identified and designated BCY0324 “Big Mamma” with calves in tow. Since that time we have seen our population of Humpback whales explode in the inland waters, with a current estimated population of 75-100 individuals here in the Salish Sea. The warm waters of Maui, HI is the most common place to hear male Humpback whales sing. However, with the increase in Humpback whale sightings in the Salish Sea, it has become more common to hear whales serenading in the deep blue channels of the Salish Sea. Interestingly, Humpback whales are heard singing on the hydrophone more commonly at night (with one recent daylight song heard by Jeanne H.). January 7, 2020 was one such night when there was at least one, if not two, male Humpback whales serenading the night. It’s no wonder the soothing songs of Humpback whales is what I fall asleep to at night.

 Living in Seattle, I commonly tune into the hydrophones in Haro Strait (one off Lime Kiln Lighthouse and the other just to the north of the lighthouse) as well as the two hydrophones on either end of Admiralty Inlet (Port Townsend and Bush Point) hoping to hear our Southern Residents. But, recently I have expanded my listening repertoire to include the hydrophones located in the waters of Johnstone Strait (at the north eastern tip of Vancouver Island) to eavesdrop on the Northern Resident killer whales. It does take some practice listening to killer whales in order to decipher which clan is present, but practice makes perfect.

If you’re tuning into a hydrophone in the Salish Sea and you’re hearing Southern Residents, you’re listening to members of the J-clan with three different dialects of the same language (J-pod, K-pod “kitten calls”, and L-pod). But if you’ve tuned into the hydrophone in Johnstone Strait you could be listening to A-clan, G-clan or R-clan. Let me break down these clans a little. Clans are made up of pods that all speak the same language, but speak different dialects; pods are made up of close-knit matrilines who all speak the same dialect. Acoustic dialects are different whale languages with each acoustic clan having many different dialects of the same language. Thus, A-clan whales can all speak the same language, but may speak different dialects. However, the different acoustic clans do not understand each other. A-clan is comprised of A-pod, B-pod, C-pod, D-pod, H-pod, and I-pod all speaking A-clan acoustics, but different dialects. Whereas, G-clan (“donkey” calls) is comprised of G-pod and I-pod; R-clan is comprised of R-pod and W-pod. For example: A-clan could be speaking English, G-clan could be speaking Dutch, and J-clan speaking Portuguese; but within A-clan, A-pod could be speaking Northeastern English, B-pod could be speaking Mid-western English and H-pod could be speaking English with a southern twang to it.

On January 26, 2020 there were reports of crystal clear calls of Northern Resident killer whales in Johnstone Strait. I tuned into the hydrophone operated by OrcaLab and there they were. With little to no noise pollution in the waters off Northeastern Vancouver Island, calls can be heard without interference. So, I did what any sane, orcaholic would do. I posted to all the whale sightings groups I belong to “Northern Resident killer whales (A34s) currently being heard on a hydrophone in Johnstone Strait brought to you by OrcaLab”. Their calls could be heard for more than an hour before the telltale sounds of an incoming ship began to drown them out, and then they were gone.

It’s fairly unusual to hear Bigg’s (Transient) killer whales on the hydrophone, as they tend to travel in smaller groups and are silent as they hunt for prey (these are mammal eating orcas). But every once in a while they surprise us all, congregating in large numbers displaying social behaviors. Presumably that’s exactly what happened on the evening of February 10th. It’s was just like any other day, there had been reports of whales in Central Puget Sound (T036s, T046s, and T099s) and Northern Strait of Georgia (T086As, T100s, T101s, T102, T124As, T124C, and 5 of the T085s) the day before, but no sightings around the San Juan Islands. Around 8 pm, the Lime Kiln Lighthouse and Orcasound Lab hydrophones were alive with the unmistakable, haunting sounds of Bigg’s Killer whales. As it was dark out, there are no confirmations of which matrilines were present, but it definitely sounded like a T-party Extravaganza. It was exciting to have the opportunity to not only hear the difference between Resident killer whales (extensive acoustic repertoire) and Bigg’s killer whales, but this group of Bigg’s killer whales vocalized for over an hour as if catching up with long lost friends and family.

Here are the links to some of the hydrophones throughout the Salish Sea: Lime Kiln Lighthouse Hydrophone is located just southwest of the Lighthouse in about 7 meters of water. For those using an iPhone or Mac computer, you can access the L.K. hydrophone here. OrcaSound is a cooperative hydrophone network that welcomes citizen scientist participation. Their three hydrophones are located at Port Townsend, Bush Point and Orcasound Lab in Haro Strait. Two additional hydrophones for eavesdropping on whales are OrcaLab with 6 strategically placed hydrophones located around Hanson Island and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute hydrophone located ~900 meters (3,000 feet) below the surface of Monterey Bay. As if eavesdropping via a hydrophone isn’t enough, there are two local webcams that people can check-out to see if they can spot dorsal fins or whale blows: Lime Kiln Lighthouse webcam and Race Rock Lighthouse webcam.

There is still so much we don’t know about whales. We don’t know why male Humpback whales sing. We don’t know what killer whales are communicating with their discrete calls. But what we do know is that these hydrophones and webcams allow us a small glimpse into the deep blue ocean that is home to our beloved whales and other sea creatures.