Presentation: What are the effects of seismic sounds on bowhead whales?

A bowhead whale….what happens when they have a lot of human-made sound in their environment?

Tonight at the Whale Museum, you can hear one of the most informed folks in the world address what’s going on with bowhead whales (and here’s a bit of video from the BBC) – and you’ll be glad you did.

The Whale Museum kicks off its Research Lecture Series on Wednesday, August 1  at 7:00pm with Frances Robertson, a doctoral candidate at the University of British Columbia.

Frances’s academic research and professional work as a wildlife biologist has centered around the impacts of human activities on marine mammals. She has 10 years of marine mammal research experience where she has studied the impacts of coastal industries on cetacean populations in Canada, the US and Scotland. Frances also has extensive experience in marine mammal mitigation for the potential impacts of seismic operations on marine mammals. Her field experience in the Alaskan Arctic has led to her doctoral research studying the effects of seismic sounds on bowhead whale behavior and distribution.

Frances is primarily interested in assessing how the bowhead’s behavioral response to seismic sounds may influence the probability of it being visually detected by an observer, and if our failure to account for differential detectability during visual surveys affects our interpretation of bowhead whale distribution and abundance relative to industry operations in the Alaskan Arctic.  Frances will be presenting the results of her work investigating the effects of seismic sound on bowhead behavior, discussing implications in the context of mitigation strategies.  Frances will also present some of the marine mammal mitigation strategies currently used in the Beaufort Sea.

The lecture is free and open to the public, although donations are encouraged.  For more information, call (360) 378-4710 ext. 30.  The Whale Museum is located in Friday Harbor at 62 First St. N.  Founded in 1976, The Whale Museum’s mission is to promote stewardship of whales and the Salish Sea ecosystem through education and research.  In addition to providing exhibits, the Museum also provides programs including the Marine Naturalist Training, Orca Adoption Program, Soundwatch Boater Education, San Juan Islands Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and the Whale Hotline.  The Whale Museum can be found on-line at www.whalemuseum.org.

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