The team are now engaged in the task of analysing the vast amount of acoustic data collected during the summer’s project in the Mediterranean and drafting the first cruise reports. Aboard Song of the Whale Mat is leading an extensive programme of maintenance, and in addition to the usual tasks, preparing the vessel for a full structural survey which is scheduled for early 2014.
This time of year can often seem a bit of an anti-climax after the excitement of the field work, highlights of which included fantastic sightings, stunning underwater GoPro footage and the thrill of finding live porpoises in the Thracian Sea. However an initial scan through the acoustic recordings has resulted in the discovery of important detections of species we hadn’t realised we had encountered when in the field, including detections of beaked whales and harbour porpoises from areas where there has been very little previous survey work. This is really exciting, as is listening again to some of the very unusual detections of the summer, such as these strange octave-stepping whistles from rough-toothed dolphins.
The Sound clips page has recently been updated and a rough-toothed dolphin clip will be added to this shortly.
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