Orca Vocalization and Localization
(Research project sponsored by Colorado College)
The hydrophone node at Orcasound (the home and laboratory of Dr. Val Veirs) is located between Snug Harbor and Andrew's Bay, ~6km N of the Lime Kiln Lighthouse. The node hosts an array of 4-8 hydrophones that stretch ~200m along shore at depths of 5-20m. There have been multiple hydrophone deployments, repairs, and acoustic research projects at Orcasound, beginning in about 2000.
The current dual-hydrophone system consists of two ITC hydrophones with custom pre-amps mounted on PVC tripods 1-2 m above the gravel bottom. Cables traverse the rocky intertidal within iron protectors and then run ~100m to a data-logging and streaming computer. Custom software written in Visual Basic by Val Veirs assesses average underwater sound levels and automatically detects "unusual" sounds. The stream is distributed by spacialnet.com for $23/month.
Each sound file (.mp3 format) is named with year, month, day, start time, end-time, and duration encoded in the file name. The date format is YYMMDD, start/end times are 24-hr format (PDT time zone), and the duration format is HHMMSS. These sounds are presented using a Flash-based player called Wimpy...
| File name | Description |
| 071020_0936-1700_071622_os_JKL.mp3 | Very long recording with clear initial calls that become increasingly faint. Calls are audible for a long time (~2h) and the recording includes a variety of vessel noises. (Recording may not be continuous due to software/storage issues.) |
| 071020_1800-1831_003109_os_JKL.mp3 | Great calls and clicks from multiple pods with low background noise |
| 071020_1832-1954_012137_os_JKL.mp3 | Great calls and clicks from multiple pods with low background noise |
| 080401_1438-1500_004255_os_J.mp3 | Call and clicks during an early spring visit by J pod with intermittent boat noise (and ship noise at the end) |
(Research project sponsored by Colorado College)
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The real-time streams and the Salish Sea hydrophone network are brought to you by our project partners at each node and the administrative team: Beam Reach Marine Science and Sustainability School Colorado College Physics and Environmental Science Departments The Whale Museum of Friday Harbor With generous support from the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW). If you would like to contribute financially, please consider making a donation:  
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Listening guidance
To listen to these links, you must be able to receive ShoutCast streams. iTunes
will do the job (on Mac or Windows computers) for free, though you may need to copy the link and paste it in
"Open Audio Stream" under the "Advanced" menu. Another Windows solution is the free
player from Winamp.
You can also try to record the streams when you hear something that interests you. We recommend Stream Ripper (free, open source, all platforms). If you'd like to explore underwater listening even further (including sound analysis and contributions to citizen science projects), then consider taking on a Beam Reach externship in bioacoustics.
Don't hesitate to contact us if you'd like to make your recording available to the listening community by having us publish it on this web site. In any case, please abide by the Creative Commons license
| Contact: Val Veirs | Contact: Scott Veirs |
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