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Long-term Behavioral Tracking of Freely Swimming Weakly Electric Fish

Long-term Behavioral Tracking of Freely Swimming Weakly Electric Fish

Published on: March 6, 2014

Tracking sperm whales with a towed acoustic vector sensor.

Aaron Thode¹, Jeff Skinner, Pam Scott

¹Marine Physical Laboratory, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, California 92093-0205, USA. athode@ucsd.edu

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

|November 30, 2010

Summary

Acoustic vector sensors improve marine mammal sound localization by resolving directional ambiguities. This study successfully used a vector sensor module to track sperm whales, enhancing passive acoustic monitoring capabilities.

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Area of Science:

Marine bioacoustics
Oceanographic instrumentation
Signal processing

Background:

Passive acoustic towed linear arrays are crucial for marine mammal sound detection during anthropogenic activities.
Limitations of linear arrays include inability to resolve port/starboard signals and susceptibility to vessel self-noise and vibration.
Acoustic vector sensors offer potential to resolve directional ambiguities and identify non-acoustic noise.

Purpose of the Study:

To assess the efficacy of an acoustic vector sensor module for detecting and localizing sperm whale vocalizations.
To evaluate the vector sensor's ability to provide unambiguous bearing estimates and mitigate noise contamination.

Main Methods:

Integration of a vector sensor module at the end of an 800 m towed array.

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Last Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Long-term Behavioral Tracking of Freely Swimming Weakly Electric Fish

Long-term Behavioral Tracking of Freely Swimming Weakly Electric Fish

Published on: March 6, 2014

Application of three methods to identify noise-free frequency regimes (4-10 kHz).

Computation of active intensity along orthogonal directions for bearing estimation.

Main Results:

Detection and localization of 1813 sperm whale clicks off Sitka, AK.
Unambiguous, time-resolved bearing estimates for two sperm whales.
Vector sensor bearing estimates showed higher standard deviations than conventional methods but resolved ambiguities consistent with vessel course changes.

Conclusions:

Acoustic vector sensors can successfully detect and localize marine mammal sounds, overcoming limitations of traditional towed arrays.
The vector sensor module provides valuable directional information, even with increased bearing variability.
This technology enhances passive acoustic monitoring for marine research and conservation efforts.