Observations of potential acoustic cues that attract sperm whales to longline fishing in the Gulf of Alaska

Sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) have learned to remove fish from demersal longline gear deployments off the eastern Gulf of Alaska, and are often observed to arrive at a site after a haul begins, suggesting a response to potential acoustic cues like fishing-gear strum, hydraulic winch tones, and propeller cavitation. Passive acoustic recorders attached to anchorlines have permitted continuous monitoring of the ambient noise environment before and during fishing hauls. Timing and tracking analyses of sperm whale acoustic activity during three encounters indicate that cavitation arising from changes in ship propeller speeds is associated with interruptions in nearby sperm whale dive cycles and changes in acoustically derived positions. This conclusion has been tested by cycling a vessel engine and noting the arrival of whales by the vessel, even when the vessel is not next to fishing gear. No evidence of response from activation of ship hydraulics or fishing gear strum has been found to date.     

Beaked whale and dolphin tracking using a multichannel autonomous acoustic recorder

To track highly directional echolocation clicks from odontocetes, passive hydrophone arrays with small apertures can be used to receive the same high frequency click on each sensor. A four-hydrophone small-aperture array was coupled to an autonomous acoustic recorder and used for long-term tracking of high-frequency odontocete sounds. The instrument was deployed in the spring of 2009 offshore of southern California in a known beaked whale and dolphin habitat at about 1000 m depth. The array was configured as a tetrahedron with approximately 0.5 m sensor spacing. Time difference of arrival measurements between the six sensor-pairs were used to estimate three-dimensional bearings to sources. Both near-seafloor beaked whales and near-sea surface dolphins were tracked. The tracks observed using this technique provide swimming and diving behavioral information for free-ranging animals using a single instrument. Furthermore, animal detection ranges were derived, allowing for estimation of detection probability functions.     

An algorithm for the localization of multiple interfering sperm whales using multi-sensor time difference of arrival

In this paper an algorithm is described for the localization of individual sperm whales in situations where several near-by animals are simultaneously vocalizing. The algorithm operates on time-difference of arrival (TDOA) measurements observed at sensor pairs and assumes no prior knowledge of the TDOA-whale associations. In other words, it solves the problem of associating TDOAs to whales. The algorithm is able to resolve association disputes where a given TDOA measurement may fit to more than one position estimate and can handle spurious TDOAs. The algorithm also provides estimates of Cramer-Rao lower bound for the position estimates. The algorithm was tested with real data using TDOA estimates obtained by cross-correlating click-trains. The click-trains were generated by a separate algorithm that operated independently on each sensor to produce click-trains corresponding to a given whale and to reject click-trains from reflected propagation paths.     

Tracking sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) dive profiles using a towed passive acoustic array

A passive acoustic method is presented for tracking sperm whale dive profiles, using two or three hydrophones deployed as either a vertical or large-aperture towed array. The relative arrival times between the direct and surface-reflected acoustic paths are used to obtain the ranges and depths of animals with respect to the array, provided that the hydrophone depths are independently measured. Besides reducing the number of hydrophones required, exploiting surface reflections simplifies automation of the data processing. Experimental results are shown from 2002 and 2003 cruises in the Gulf of Mexico for two different towed array deployments. The 2002 deployment consisted of two short-aperture towed arrays separated by 170 m, while the 2003 deployment placed an autonomous acoustic recorder in tandem with a short-aperture towed array, and used ship noise to time-align the acoustic data. The resulting dive profiles were independently checked using single-hydrophone localizations, whenever multipath reflections from the ocean bottom could be exploited to effectively create a large-aperture vertical array. This technique may have applications for basic research and for real-time mitigation for seismic airgun surveys.     

Long distance passive localization of vocalizing sei whales using an acoustic normal mode approach

During a 2 day period in mid-September 2006, more than 200, unconfirmed but identifiable, sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) calls were collected as incidental data during a multidisciplinary oceanography and acoustics experiment on the shelf off New Jersey. Using a combined vertical and horizontal acoustic receiving array, sei whale movements were tracked over long distances (up to tens of kilometers) using a normal mode back propagation technique. This approach uses low-frequency, broadband passive sei whale call receptions from a single-station, two-dimensional hydrophone array to perform long distance localization and tracking by exploiting the dispersive nature of propagating normal modes in a shallow water environment. The back propagation approach is examined for accuracy and application to tracking the sei whale vocalizations identified in the vertical and horizontal array signals. This passive whale tracking, combined with the intensive oceanography measurements performed during the experiment, was also used to examine sei whale movements in relation to oceanographic features observed in this region.     

Localization of marine mammals near Hawaii using an acoustic propagation model

Humpback whale songs were recorded on six widely spaced receivers of the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) hydrophone network near Hawaii during March of 2001. These recordings were used to test a new approach to localizing the whales that exploits the time-difference of arrival (time lag) of their calls as measured between receiver pairs in the PMRF network. The usual technique for estimating source position uses the intersection of hyperbolic curves of constant time lag, but a drawback of this approach is its assumption of a constant wave speed and straight-line propagation to associate acoustic travel time with range. In contrast to hyperbolic fixing, the algorithm described here uses an acoustic propagation model to account for waveguide and multipath effects when estimating travel time from hypothesized source positions. A comparison between predicted and measured time lags forms an ambiguity surface, or visual representation of the most probable whale position in a horizontal plane around the array. This is an important benefit because it allows for automated peak extraction to provide a location estimate. Examples of whale localizations using real and simulated data in algorithms of increasing complexity are provided.     

Whale 3D monitoring using astrophysic NEMO ONDE two meters wide platform with state optimal filtering by Rao-Blackwell Monte Carlo data association

This paper proposes an algorithm for whale monitoring by passive acoustic using four short-spaced hydrophones. It is successfully tested on the NEutrino Mediterranean Observatory - Ocean Noise Detection Experiment (NEMO ONDE) underwater acoustic platform. In past years, interest in marine mammals has increased, leading to the development of passive acoustic methods of localization which permits to study whales’ behavior in deep water (several hundreds of meters) without interfering with the animals. In this paper, we propose a robust Angle of Arrival (AoA) tracking algorithm, which provides an estimation of elevation and azimuth angles in spite of the short distance between hydrophones, which does not allow direct 3D localization. Moreover we show that, in some cases, the time-delay between direct signal and its reflection on the sea surface allows the range estimation, and thus the exact localization of the whale. The classic AoA estimation is performed with a non-linear regression, and it is compared with a more sophisticated algorithm, the Rao-Blackwell Monte Carlo Data Association. We demonstrate that the second method is very robust to the presence of clutter. According to the Pavi 2009 workshop challenge, our algorithm is the only one performing relevant tracks of whale.     

分布式矢量传感器对宽带源被动定位的方法研究

本文给出了两种基于矢量传感器的被动定位方法。一般来说，对目标进行被动定位可以通过方位信息或时延信息来实现。单个矢量传感器就可以实现目标方位估计，而对多个矢量传感器接收的信号进行互相关运算即可得到目标对各矢量传感器的时延信息。本文先给出了利用方位信息进行被动定位的方法，然后给出了利用分布式矢量传感器进行方位一时延信息联合被动定位的新方法，并通过仿真分析对这两种方法的定位性能进行了比较。     

Monitoring the acoustic field of seismic survey pulses in the near-coastal zone

The paper describes monitoring of seismic survey parameters conducted during 4-D seismic surveying at the Pil??tun-Astokh hydrocarbon deposit on the northeastern shelf of Sakhalin Island at the boundary of the near-coastal Pil??tun gray whale feeding area. Acoustic measurements were performed in the frequency range of 2?C15000 Hz using 12 autonomous underwater acoustic recorders, of which three were deployed at the 10-m isobath and nine were equipped with digital radiotelemetry channels and deployed at the 20-m isobath along a line extending 20 km. In real time, the shore-based radio receiver station received over the digital radiotelemetry channels acoustic data from nine observation points, measured in the frequency range of 2?C2000 Hz. The influence of the hydrology and bathymetry on the seismic survey pulse propagation to the near-coastal zone is studied experimentally and theoretically.     

Blue and fin whale call source levels and propagation range in the Southern Ocean

Blue (Balaenoptera musculus) and fin whales (B. physalus) produce high-intensity, low-frequency calls, which probably function for communication during mating and feeding. The source levels of blue and fin whale calls off the Western Antarctic Peninsula were calculated using recordings made with calibrated, bottom-moored hydrophones. Blue whales were located up to a range of 200 km using hyperbolic localization and time difference of arrival. The distance to fin whales, estimated using multipath arrivals of their calls, was up to 56 km. The error in range measurements was 3.8 km using hyperbolic localization, and 3.4 km using multipath arrivals. Both species produced high-intensity calls; the average blue whale call source level was 189+/-3 dB re:1 microPa-1 m over 25-29 Hz, and the average fin whale call source level was 189+/-4 dB re:1 microPa-1 m over 15-28 Hz. Blue and fin whale populations in the Southern Ocean have remained at low numbers for decades since they became protected; using source level and detection range from passive acoustic recordings can help in calculating the relative density of calling whales.     

A Bayesian method to estimate the depth and the range of phonating sperm whales using a single hydrophone

Some bioacousticians have used a single hydrophone to calculate the depth/range of phonating diving animals. The standard one-hydrophone localization method uses multipath transmissions (direct path, sea surface, and seafloor reflections) of the animal phonations as a substitute for a vertical hydrophone array. The standard method requires three multipath transmissions per phonation. Bioacousticians who study foraging sperm whales usually do not have the required amount of multipath transmissions. However, they usually detect accurately (using shallow hydrophones towed by research vessels) direct path transmissions and sea surface reflections of sperm whale phonations (clicks). Sperm whales emit a few thousand clicks per foraging dive, therefore researchers have this number of direct path transmissions and this number of sea surface reflections per dive. The author describes a Bayesian method to combine the information contained in those acoustic data plus visual observations. The author's tests using synthetic data show that the accurate estimation of the depth/range of sperm whales is possible using a single hydrophone and without using any seafloor reflections. This method could be used to study the behavior of sperm whales using a single hydrophone in any location no matter what the depth, the relief, or the constitution of the seafloor might be.     

Measuring the off-axis angle and the rotational movements of phonating sperm whales using a single hydrophone

The common use of the bent-horn model of the sperm whale sound generator describes sperm whale clicks as the pulse series {p0, p1, p2, p3,...}. Clicks, however, deviate from this standard when recorded using off-axis hydrophones. The existence of additional pulses within the {p0, p1, p2, p3, ...} series can be explained still using the bent-horn model. Multiple reflections on the whale's frontal and distal sacs of the p0 pulse lead to additional sets of pulses detectable using a farfield, off-axis hydrophone. The travel times of some of these additional pulses depend on the whale's orientation. The authors propose a method to estimate the off-axis angle of sperm whale clicks. They also propose a method to determine the nature of the movement (if it is pitch, yaw, or roll) of phonating sperm whales. The application of both methods requires the measurement of the travel time differences between pulses composing a sperm whale click. They lead, using a simple apparatus consisting of a single hydrophone at an unknown depth, to new measurements of the underwater movements of sperm whales. Using these methods shows that sperm whales would methodically scan seawater while searching for prey, by making periodic pitch and yaw movements in sync with their acoustic activity.     

Separation of sperm whale click-trains for multipath rejection

In this paper an algorithm is described for grouping sperm whale clicks received at a single hydrophone into click-trains associated with a given whale and propagation path. To accomplish this, features are extracted from pairs of clicks in order to derive a statistical measure of click similarity. Then, the algorithm maximizes a global measure of similarity between the associated clicks. In addition to grouping clicks according to click-trains, it classifies click-trains into a propagation path (direct, surface, bottom reverberation). The propagation path is identified using a combination of (1) a statistical classifier operating on features extracted from individual clicks and (2) the cross-correlation of click-trains to identify the relative time delays. The algorithm is demonstrated on at-sea recorded data, showing the elimination of time-delay ambiguities associated with the reverberation paths observed at sensor pairs.     

浅海周期起伏海底环境下的声传播

海底粗糙对水下声传播及水声探测等应用具有重要影响.利用黄海夏季典型海洋环境,分析了同时存在海底周期起伏和强温跃层条件下的声传播特性,结果表明:由于海底周期起伏的存在,对于低频(<1 kHz)、近程(10 km)的声信号,传播损失可增大5—30 d B.总结了声传播损失及脉冲到达结构随声源深度、海底起伏周期及起伏高度等因...     

Modeling three-dimensional propagation in a continental shelf environment

An acoustic propagation model is applied to predict measurements of three-dimensional (3-D) effects recorded off the southeast coast of Florida. The measured signal is produced by a low frequency source that is towed north parallel to the shelf from a fixed receiving array. The acoustic data show the direct path arrival at the bearing of the tow ship and a second refracted path arrival as much as 30° inshore of the direct arrival. Notably, the refracted arrival has a received level more than 25 dB greater than that of the direct arrival. A geoacoustic model of the environment is created to explain the data. It is shown that the topography of the seafloor plays the largest role in controlling horizontal refraction effects, whereas the range-dependent sediment properties have the most influence on the received level. The modeling approach is based on a 3-D adiabatic mode technique in which the horizontal refraction equation is solved using a parabolic equation in Cartesian coordinates. A modal decomposition of the field provides insight into the variability in the arrival angle and received level of the measured signal.     

Focused sound from three-dimensional sound propagation effects over a submarine canyon

Ship noise data reveal an intensification of the near-surface sound field over a submarine canyon. Numerical modeling of sound propagation is used to study the effect. The noise data were collected during an ocean acoustic and physical oceanography experiment northeast of Taiwan in 2009. In situ measurements of water sound-speed profiles and a database of high-resolution bathymetry are used in the modeling study. The model results suggest that the intensification is caused by three-dimensional sound focusing by the concave canyon seafloor. Uncertainties in the model results from unsampled aspects of the environment are discussed.     

A reliable acoustic path： Physical properties and a source localization method

<正>The physical properties of a reliable acoustic path(RAP) are analysed and subsequently a weighted-subspacefitting matched field(WSF-MF) method for passive localization is presented by exploiting the properties of the RAP environment.The RAP is an important acoustic duct in the deep ocean,which occurs when the receiver is placed near the bottom where the sound velocity exceeds the maximum sound velocity in the vicinity of the surface.It is found that in the RAP environment the transmission loss is rather low and no blind zone of surveillance exists in a medium range. The ray theory is used to explain these phenomena.Furthermore,the analysis of the arrival structures shows that the source localization method based on arrival angle is feasible in this environment.However,the conventional methods suffer from the complicated and inaccurate estimation of the arrival angle.In this paper,a straightforward WSF-MF method is derived to exploit the information about the arrival angles indirectly.The method is to minimize the distance between the signal subspace and the spanned space by the array manifold in a finite range-depth space rather than the arrival-angle space.Simulations are performed to demonstrate the features of the method,and the results are explained by the arrival structures in the RAP environment.     

Matched-field processing, geoacoustic inversion, and source signature recovery of blue whale vocalizations

Matched-field processing (MFP) and global inversion techniques have been applied to vocalizations from four whales recorded on a 48-element tilted vertical array off the Channel Islands in 1996. Global inversions from selected whale calls using as few as eight elements extracted information about the surrounding ocean bottom composition, array shape, and the animal's position. These inversion results were then used to conduct straightforward MFP on other calls. The sediment sound-speed inversion estimates are consistent with those derived from sediment samples collected in the area. In general, most animals swam from the east to west, but one animal remained within approximately 500 m of its original position over 45 min. All whales vocalized between 10 and 40 m depth. Three acoustic sequences are discussed in detail: the first illustrating a match between an acoustic track and visual sighting, the second tracking two whales to ranges out to 8 km, and the final sequence demonstrating high-resolution dive profiles from an animal that changed its course to avoid the research platform FLIP (floating instrument platform). This last whale displayed an unusual diversity of signals that include three strong frequency-modulated (FM) downsweeps which contain possible signs of an internal resonance. The arrival of this same whale coincided with a sudden change in oceanographic conditions.     

深海不平海底对声场水平纵向相关性的影响

海底地形变化对与海底作用的声反射区声场空间相关性有重要影响。利用南中国海某深海海域的一次声学实验数据,对深海海底反射区的声场空间相关性进行了分析。实验观测到,在距离声源约29 km至35 km距离范围处,不平海底环境下的水平纵向相关性出现了一些不同于平坦海底环境下的振荡结构,利用射线声学理论分析并解释了这两种不同海底环境产生水平纵向相关差异的原因。结果表明,在深海平坦海底方向一次海底反射到达区,对声场起主要贡献的经过一次海底反射声线间的到达时间差随着水平距离的增加而逐渐减少,从而干涉叠加后的相位差在[0,2π]内发生周期性变化,导致该区域声场的水平纵向相关性随着间距增加呈周期性振荡现象;而不平海底方向的海底小山丘恰对一次海底反射声线的阻挡影响,不仅使得与平坦海底方向相同区域的声传播损失明显增大,而且由于相对更多的本征声线路径的复杂多途干涉,该区域水平纵向相关性不再呈现明显的振荡周期,相关系数也有所下降。研究结果对于分析在深海复杂海底地形环境下的声呐阵列探测性能具有重要意义。     

Three-dimensional coupled-mode model and characteristics of low-frequency sound propagation in ocean waveguide with seamount topography

Large-scale topography, such as a seamount, substantially impacts low-frequency sound propagation in an ocean waveguide, limiting the application of low-frequency acoustic detecting techniques. A three-dimensional (3D) coupled-mode model is developed to calculate the acoustic field in an ocean waveguide with seamount topography and analyze the 3D effect. In this model, a correction is introduced in the bottom boundary, theoretically making the acoustic field satisfy the energy conservation. Furthermore, a large azimuth angle calculation range is obtained by using the operator theory and higher-order Padé approximation. Additionally, the model has advantages related to the coupling mode and parabolic equation theory. The couplings corresponding to the effects of range-dependent environment are fully considered, and the numerical implementation is kept feasible. After verifying the accuracy and reliability of the model, low-frequency sound propagation characteristics in the seamount environment are analyzed. The results indicate lateral variability in bathymetry can lead to out-of-plane effects such as the horizontal refraction phenomenon, while the coupling effect tends to restore the abnormal sound field and produces acoustic field diffraction behind the seamount. This model effectively considers the effects of the horizontal refraction and coupling, which are proportional to the scale of the seamount.