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

    Metadata Updated: October 18, 2025

    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.

    Access & Use Information

    License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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    Dates

    Metadata Date October 6, 2025
    Metadata Created Date October 19, 2024
    Metadata Updated Date October 18, 2025
    Reference Date(s) September 1, 2010 (creation), July 22, 2016 (publication)
    Frequency Of Update

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NMFS NWFSC

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Date October 6, 2025
    Metadata Created Date October 19, 2024
    Metadata Updated Date October 18, 2025
    Reference Date(s) September 1, 2010 (creation), July 22, 2016 (publication)
    Responsible Party (Point of Contact, Custodian)
    Contact Email
    Guid gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:17972
    Access Constraints Cite As: Northwest Fisheries Science Center, [Date of Access]: DTAGs SRKW - Using DTAGs to study vessel sound exposure & effects on behavior in southern resident killer whales [Data Date Range], https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/17972., Access Constraints: NA
    Bbox East Long -122.4252
    Bbox North Lat 49.0022
    Bbox South Lat 48.2733
    Bbox West Long -123.3239
    Coupled Resource
    Frequency Of Update
    Harvest Object Id c8149264-3d3d-4862-845f-4338145518cf
    Harvest Source Id ba43549f-8268-499d-bec8-91b164cb168f
    Harvest Source Title NMFS NWFSC
    Licence NOAA provides no warranty, nor accepts any liability occurring from any incomplete, incorrect, or misleading data, or from any incorrect, incomplete, or misleading use of the data. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether or not the data is suitable for the intended purpose.
    Lineage These data were collected and processed in accordance with established protocols and best practices under the direction of the project’s Principal Investigator. Contact the dataset Data Manager in section 3 for full QA/QC methodology.
    Metadata Language eng
    Metadata Type geospatial
    Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-123.3239, 48.2733], [-122.4252, 48.2733], [-122.4252, 49.0022], [-123.3239, 49.0022], [-123.3239, 48.2733]]]}
    Progress underDevelopment
    Spatial Data Service Type
    Spatial Reference System
    Spatial Harvester True
    Temporal Extent Begin 2010-09-06
    Temporal Extent End 2014-09-23

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