North Coast Cetacean Society Presents Talk on Social Dynamics of Whales
North Coast Cetacean Society announces a presentation on whales’ unique social dynamics, including the dangers that whales in Hartley Bay face during to noise from liquefied natural gas tankers.
Hartley Bay, BC– Nov. 1, 2021
Janie Wrey, Project Leader, Cetacea Lab and North Coast Cetacean Society, Hartley Bay, BC jwrey@forwales.org
Hermann Meuter, Project Leader, Cetacea Lab and North Coast Cetacean Society, Hartley Bay, BC hmeuter@forwales.org
About North Coast Cetacean Society
- Conducts daily whale surveys and collects data on the abundance of Orca and Humpback populations
- maintains a network of hydrophones set up throughout the research area to identify and track the movement of orca families
- that have built an acoustic library and photographic catalogue of every orca sighting from Caamano Sound to Douglas Channel.
- Developed a strong relationship of respect and friendship with the Gitga’at, the first nations people of Hartley Bay, we combine our efforts and research to initiate solutions that encourage a balance between nature and industry.
Presenters
- Janie Wrey has studied the acoustic dialects and social connections of orca, humpback, and fin whale populations for more than 20 years.
- Hermann Meuter was born in Germany for more than 20 years has realized his dream of studying orcas in BC coastal waters.
- Chris Picard is science director for the Gitga’at First Nation and recent author of the peer-reviewed study, “Whale wave.”
Whale Communication
- Hartley bay is home to two whales, fin and humpback whales. They both use sophisticated vocalizations for social interaction.
- According to Whale and Dolphin Conservation, male humpbacks whales sing beautiful, ever-evolving songs that last as long as 30 minutes.
- Humpback whales can sing a span of 7 octaves, nearly the entire range of a piano, which allows for rich communicative patterns to emerge.
- Fin whales sing simple songs that are repetitive powerful low-frequency pulses sometimes intertwined with high-frequency parts repeated repeatedly.