ORCAWALE 2001: Weekly Report for 9/06/01 to 9/12/01
Lisa T. Ballance
It is impossible to compose any scientific dialogue in the face of this week’s events.
We continue to work but the news has left us in shock. Our thoughts are with you all at home.
Trackline Avg
Date Time Lat Long Miles Beauf
090601 0652 N47:36.15 W124:27.51 95.1nmi 3.4
1908 N45:52.85 W125:11.70
090701 0659 N45:19.42 W127:33.43 92.9nmi 5.1
1645 N44:21.97 W128:57.46
090801 no effort 0 6+
090901 no effort 0 6+
091001 0712 N43:57.46 W129:06.92 121.0nmi 4.6
1941 N42:04.54 W129:41.43
091101 0721 N42:00.87 W129:46.98 103.2nmi 4.7
1819 N41:03.80 W131:00.16
091201 0728 N40:46.81 W130:14.59 115.6nmi 4.0
1946 N39:19.98 W129:46.37
Code Species Tot#
21 Risso's dolphin 1
22 Pacific white-sided dolphin 1
27 northern right whale dolphin 1
37 killer whale 1
40 harbor porpoise 12
44 Dall's porpoise 2
63 Baird's beaked whale 2
76 humpback whale 2
77 unidentified delphinoid 1
79 unidentified large whale 1
TOTAL 24
Common dolphins 0
Spotted/spinner 0
Blue/humback wh. 0
Other delphinids 0
Other cetaceans 0
Biopsy (Juan Carlos Salinas and Erin LeBrecque)
Photo-ID (Annie Douglas, Leigh Torres and Laura Morse)
Biopsy Photo
Species #Biopsies Cumulative #ID-Photos Cumulative
(this week) Total (this week) Total
Physeter macrocephalus 0 8 0 15
Balaenoptera musculus 0 1 0 3
Balaenoptera physalus 0 9 0 13
Megaptera novaeangliae 1 8 2 9
Delphinus delphis 0 14 0 3
Lagenorhyncus obliquidens 0 7 0 0
Lissodelphis borealis 0 14 0 0
Phocoenoides dalli 1 2 0 0
Orcinus orca 2 2 12 . 18
Eschrictius robustus 0 2 0 5
Total 4 67 14 67
Oceanography (Candice Hall and Josh Fluty)
Day #CTDs #XBTs #Bongos Notes
6 Sept 0 6 1 too shallow for AM CTD
7 Sept 0 4 1 in transit (between tracklines);
no AM CTD
8 September 0 0 0 weather day; no operations
9 September 0 0 0 weather day; no operations
10 September 1 4 1
11 September 1 4 1
12 September 1 4 1
Seabirds (Michael Force and Cornelia Oedekoven)
Partial list of seabirds (in decreasing order of abundance)
Grays Canyon (35 NM west of Westport, WA) and coastal WA (off Destruction Is): Sooty Shearwater, Pink-footed Shearwater, Common Murre, California Gull, Buller’s Shearwater, Black-footed Albatross, Sabine’s Gull, Northern Fulmar, Brown Pelican, Rhinoceros Auklet, Cassin’s Auklet, South Polar Skua, Black-legged Kittiwake (first one for ORCAWALE 2001), Plus about 6 other species represented by less than 5 individuals
Offshore: Leach’s Storm-Petrel, Red Phalarope, Sooty Shearwater, Long-tailed Jaeger, Black-footed Albatross, Arctic Tern, Parasitic Jaeger, Buller’s Shearwater, “Dark-rumped” (Hawaiian?) Petrel, Pomarine Jaeger, Ring-billed Gull (unusually far offshore), Ashy Storm-petrel
Acoustics (Shannon Rankin and Julie Oswald)
Physeter macrocephalus: 7 detections
Unidentified dolphins: 1 detection
Grampus griseus (echolocation clicks): 1 detection = visual sighting #145