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DTAGs SRKW - Using DTAGs to study vessel sound exposure & effects on behavior in southern resident killer whales

Published by Northwest Fisheries Science Center | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Catalog Last Checked: August 03, 2026 at 04:02 AM | Dataset Last Updated: July 22, 2016 at 12:00 AM
Drs. Marla Holt, Brad Hanson, and Candice Emmons of the NWFSC, along with collaborators from Cascadia Research Collective and UC Davis, are currently conducting a study using digital acoustic recording tags (DTAGs) to examine sound exposure, sound use, and behavior of Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs) in core summer habitat. The DTAG is suction cup attached and consists of a number of different sensors that record sound, pitch, roll, heading, and depth. The tag was developed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution specifically to monitor the behavior of marine mammals and their response to sound, continuously throughout the dive cycle. Prey samples and vessel data are also concurrently collected relative to tagged whales in a manner similar to previous work. The project research goals include the following: (1) Measure noise levels in biological relevant frequency ranges that are received by individual SRKWs. (2) Quantify the relationship between vessels and received noise levels. (3) Determine acoustic behavior during different activities and matched with fine scale details on movement, especially those indicative of foraging. (4) Quantify foraging efforts and determine potential effects of vessels and associated noise levels. The results of this study will provide pertinent data to address multiple risk factors of SRKWs including vessel disturbance, noise exposure, effects on foraging, and cumulative effects. The specific work that will be done includes experimental design, data collection, data analysis, and writing for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Southern resident killer whale tag data.

Resources

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  • Noise Level Data from DTAG Study 2010-2012

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  • Noise Level Data from DTAG Study 2010-2012 (RESTfu

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  • Surface Based Data from DTAG Study 2010-2012

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  • Surface Based Data from DTAG Study 2010-2012 (REST

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  • Killer Whale Vessel Distance and Behavior Data 2014

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  • Webservice: Killer Whale Vessel Distance and Behavior Data 2014

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  • GCMD Keyword Forum Page

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  • Full Metadata Record

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Complete Metadata
@type dcat:Dataset
accessLevel non-public
contactPoint 
{
  "fn": "Holt, Marla",
  "@type": "vcard:Contact",
  "hasEmail": "mailto:marla.holt@noaa.gov"
}
describedByType application/octet-steam
description Drs. Marla Holt, Brad Hanson, and Candice Emmons of the NWFSC, along with collaborators from Cascadia Research Collective and UC Davis, are currently conducting a study using digital acoustic recording tags (DTAGs) to examine sound exposure, sound use, and behavior of Southern Resident killer whales (SRKWs) in core summer habitat. The DTAG is suction cup attached and consists of a number of different sensors that record sound, pitch, roll, heading, and depth. The tag was developed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution specifically to monitor the behavior of marine mammals and their response to sound, continuously throughout the dive cycle. Prey samples and vessel data are also concurrently collected relative to tagged whales in a manner similar to previous work. The project research goals include the following: (1) Measure noise levels in biological relevant frequency ranges that are received by individual SRKWs. (2) Quantify the relationship between vessels and received noise levels. (3) Determine acoustic behavior during different activities and matched with fine scale details on movement, especially those indicative of foraging. (4) Quantify foraging efforts and determine potential effects of vessels and associated noise levels. The results of this study will provide pertinent data to address multiple risk factors of SRKWs including vessel disturbance, noise exposure, effects on foraging, and cumulative effects. The specific work that will be done includes experimental design, data collection, data analysis, and writing for submission to peer-reviewed journals. Southern resident killer whale tag data.
distribution 
[
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Noise Level Data from DTAG Study 2010-2012",
    "accessURL": "https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parrdata/inventory/tables/table/noise_level_data_from_dtag_study_20102012",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Noise level data from dtag recordings and associated vessel data collected in 2010-2012 for the dtag study (Houghton et al 2015 PLOS ONE).",
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  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Noise Level Data from DTAG Study 2010-2012 (RESTfu",
    "accessURL": "https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parr/noise_level_data_from_dtag_study_20102012/data/page/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Noise level data from dtag recordings and associated vessel data collected in 2010-2012 for the dtag study (Houghton et al 2015 PLOS ONE).",
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  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Surface Based Data from DTAG Study 2010-2012",
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    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Data collected at the surface during focal follows in 2010-2012 for the dtag study (Houghton et al 2015 PLOS ONE).",
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    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Surface Based Data from DTAG Study 2010-2012 (REST",
    "accessURL": "https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parr/surface_based_data_from_dtag_study_20102012/data/page/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Data collected at the surface during focal follows in 2010-2012 for the dtag study (Houghton et al 2015 PLOS ONE).",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Killer Whale Vessel Distance and Behavior Data 2014",
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    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Data on the behavior of killer whales in relation to vessel distances and genders of the whales from 2014.",
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    "title": "Webservice: Killer Whale Vessel Distance and Behavior Data 2014",
    "accessURL": "https://www.webapps.nwfsc.noaa.gov/apex/parr/killer_whale_vessel_distance_and_behavior_data_2014/data/page/",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Data on the behavior of killer whales in relation to vessel distances and genders of the whales from 2014.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "GCMD Keyword Forum Page",
    "accessURL": "https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD%2BKeywords",
    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "Global Change Master Directory (GCMD). 2026. GCMD Keywords, Version 24. Greenbelt, MD: Earth Science Data and Information System, Earth Science Projects Division, Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). URL (GCMD Keyword Forum Page): https://forum.earthdata.nasa.gov/app.php/tag/GCMD+Keywords",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
  },
  {
    "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
    "title": "Full Metadata Record",
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    "mediaType": "text/html",
    "description": "View the complete metadata record on InPort for more information about this dataset.",
    "describedByType": "application/octet-stream"
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identifier https://data.noaa.gov/waf/NOAA/nmfs/nwfsc/iso/xml/17972.xml
issued 2010-09-01T00:00:00.000+00:00
keyword 
[
  "DTAG",
  "behavioral effects of noise",
  "killer whale",
  "vessel sound exposure",
  "Waters of the San Juan Islands, WA and Gulf Islands, BC",
  "Animal Mounted Instrument - Animal Mounted Instrument (not specified)",
  "GPS",
  "DOC/NOAA/NMFS/NWFSC > Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA. U.S. Department of Commerce",
  "CB (Conservation Biology) Division"
]
landingPage https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/17972
language 
[]
license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/
modified 2016-07-22T00:00:00.000+00:00
publisher 
{
  "name": "Northwest Fisheries Science Center",
  "@type": "org:Organization"
}
rights otherRestrictions, unclassified
spatial -122.4252,48.2733,-123.3239,49.0022
temporal 2010-09-06T00:00:00+00:00/2014-09-23T00:00:00+00:00
theme 
[
  "geospatial"
]
title DTAGs SRKW - Using DTAGs to study vessel sound exposure & effects on behavior in southern resident killer whales

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