VHP Project Purpose and Overview

Our local orcas, the Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW), are Endangered, and that is not just our opinion - this is an official designation under the Endangered Species Act. ACS/PS is committed to collaborating with NMFS in recovering this vulnerable population.

As part of conservation and recovery planning for the Southern Residents, NMFS and other orca researchers are seeking more information about the Southern Residents' winter distribution, travel, and feeding behavior. The Vashon Hydrophone Project is inspired by other acoustic research projects like Paul Spong's OrcaLab on Hanson Island, BC, and the Whale Museum's SeaSound Remote Sensing Network on San Juan Island.

When traveling in central and southern Puget Sound, the Southern Residents use both sides of Vashon Island. Independent orca researchers and The Whale Museum's Whale Hotline have documented these Vashon-area sightings for more than two decades. When the orcas come to Puget Sound in fall and winter, they often visit Vashon after dark.

The Vashon Hydrophone Project is helping us determine which pods are present and what they are doing in our waters, even at night! Hydrophones, or underwater microphones, are non-invasive, passive listening devices. They can provide continuous acoustic monitoring of a target area, and are valuable tools for Puget Sound orca research. Researchers can identify orca pods by how they sound. Recording the orcas' calls and other vocalizations can supplement local sighting data. They can also help us to find out if the Southern Residents are subjected to harmful underwater noise (like mid-frequency sonar) in central Puget Sound.

Data from the Vashon Hydropohone project is also used in school presentations, community lectures, and other events. Ultimately, we also plan to include orca calls and samples of underwater noise collected from Vashon on the ACS/PS web site

The project coordinators are ACS/PS Board Members Ann Stateler and Joe Olson. Ann lives on Vashon and is the chapter Vice President, a marine naturalist, and former Whale Museum intern. She has studied orcas for twelve years. Since 1994 she has collaborated with independent whale researcher Mark Sears to document orca travel and behavior in Vashon waters. Joe is our Technology Chair and Past President. He owns Cetacean Research Technology and provides expertise in hydrophones and acoustics for the project.

To locate the Vashon Hydrophone project on the map, see: vashonmap.com.