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Field Research

 Field research into the new method for protecting whales is anticipated to begin in early 2004 off the Central California coast during the southbound California gray whale migration. The research is authorized by a permit issued by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service.

During the field research, a multidisciplinary scientific team of experts in underwater acoustics and sonar systems, along with marine mammal biologists, will be stationed aboard the R/V New Horizon, a research vessel based at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography in San Diego, California. A second team of marine mammal biologists will be positioned ashore at two prominent coastal points within sight of the research activities. This dual-team approach will allow scientists to compare the location and tracks of the whales visually observed by the marine mammal experts, with that determined by the systems suspended off the New Horizon.

In addition to visually identifying the location of the gray whales, the marine mammal scientists play another critical role: They are authorized to suspend equipment testing if they observe either the presence of protected marine mammal

species such as blue whales within one mile of the research zone, or any abnormal behavior among the California gray whales. They also are authorized to suspend testing if any California gray whale is observed within 100 meters of the whale-protection equipment.

Each day, the R/V New Horizon will moor offshore within sight of the land-based observation post and lower a device called a transducer, which sends and receives underwater sound waves. Equipment testing will only be conducted during daylight hours and in conditions that will allow observation since the purpose of the tests is to compare visual observations to the effectiveness of the whale-safety equipment. Whenever the equipment is started, the strength of the sound wave will be increased very gradually to give any nearby marine mammals that can hear the sound (i.e., dolphins) time to move away. Once the sound wave reaches the operational low-power level allowed by the permit, location data will be mapped by the scientific team. This information will be simultaneously compared to the visual sightings of the onshore and offshore marine mammal experts.

Testing of the whale-protection equipment is limited to a cumulative maximum of 120 hours per year, which would be the equivalent of five days continuous operation. By contrast, the southern migration of the California gray whales lasts approximately 50 days.