Hear some recordings of the Orcas Pass Calls At this site.

Orcas pass calls from one generation to another and maintain them culturally.

Listen here to Orcas Pass Calls
Like the oral storytelling traditions of humans, orcas pass calls from one generation to another and maintain them culturally, Olsen said. Groups tend to have between 10 and 15 calls.

Cultural drift is a culture???s tendency to change in different ways over time, from generation to generation.

???Cultural drift (in orcas) happens when matrons die ??? great-great grandmothers ??? because they???re no longer modeling the calls,??? Olsen said. ???Cousins sound alike, but not exactly the same.???

By dropping hydrophones in the water, Olsen and other researchers ??? among them longtime researcher Craig Matkin, whom Olsen calls ???the main killer whale researcher in Alaska,?????? are able to hear whales all around their boat. The tough part comes in figuring out which one is calling.

???It???s really tricky to try and get individuality out of them (the hydrophones) because they???re omnidirectional,??? Olsen said.

The hydrophones are powerful, though ??? he???s heard whales from 13 to 15 miles away. Whales can hear each other from longer distances, likely 20 miles, he said.

Low-pitched sound travels farther, whereas high-pitched sound travels faster.

But killer whales don???t have to choose between speed and staying power. They can make two different frequencies at the same time, as they have two nasal passages leading up to the same blowhole, he said. About half of calls use both capacities, and are biphonic, he said.

The high-pitched sound goes straight out in front of them, and the low pitched sound goes ???all the way around.??? This helps whales figure out how far away another whale is, which way it???s facing, and more.

???They have an incredible, incredible acoustic awareness,??? he said. ???We as humans can???t tell direction underwater, but they???re very capable.???

Typically, calls don???t seem to be associated with specific behaviors.

Family calls, he said, are ???more about identity than what they???re trying to say.???
Be sure to Listen to the recordings “Orcas Pass Calls“

Find out more about killer whales at the North Gulf Oceanic Society???s website, https://www.whalesalaska.org.

Bryde???s whales in question are a genetically distinct subspecies of Bryde???s whale.

The population of Bryde???s whales in question are a genetically distinct subspecies of Bryde???s whale, if not an entirely new species altogether, and the latest population estimates put their number at fewer than 50 individuals.

Conservationists are calling for protection for a unique population of whales living in the Gulf of Mexico over concerns that they may be the most endangered whales on earth. Without intervention, conservationists warn that they could disappear entirely.

Other populations of Bryde???s whales can be found in tropical and subtropical waters around the world, but these whales are non-migratory and live solely in the Gulf in the DeSoto Canyon, off the Florida panhandle.

Bryde???s whales are close relatives of blue and humpback whales, but their lives remain mysterious. Just last year, researchers identified two subspecies of Bryde???s whales while studying them to define separate groups and subspecies and ensure protection for vulnerable populations: a larger one that roams offshore waters and a smaller one that lives in coastal habitats.

???Very little is known about Bryde???s whales in terms of where populations are distributed, the extent of their range, or even relationships among them at the population, sub-species and species levels,??? Francine Kershaw, a researcher at Columbia University and lead author of the study, said at the time.

Oddly the population in the Gulf is more closely related to the population that exists the farthest from them. Along with their unique gentic makeup, the population in the Gulf also has a distinctive song unlike the calls of other Bryde???s whales.
Unfortunately they are up against a slew of threats in their limited range. Researchers believe they???ve been isolated for quite some time, leaving them with a lack of genetic diversity, which is compounded by other threats including ship strikes, noise pollution, oil and gas exploration and the toxic aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon spill. There are also essentially no laws in place to protect them from further harm.

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Experts expect Orcas to be in Puget Sound October

Hot on the tails of spawning salmon, experts expect orcas to be in Puget Sound this month.

After spending most of the summer in the San Juan Islands, Southern Resident orca pods venture into Puget Sound for the fall and early winter months, Orca Network announced in a news release this week. They typically travel down Admiralty Inlet to south of Vashon Island chasing chum salmon runs, which start around Oct. 1.

Southern Residents should not be confused with the mammal-eating Transient-type orcas that are often seen year-round in Puget Sound.

Orca Network, a Langley-based advocacy group, has added a new online map of north and central Puget Sound to make observing whales from land-based viewpoints around Puget Sound easier. It includes descriptions of over 100 public viewing locations and directions to help find them.

The new map is available at www.orcanetwork.org/Viewpoints.html.

“We are very fortunate to live in a place where we can look out from nearby shorelines and see those majestic black fins parting the waters,” said Howard Garrett, president of Orca Network’s board. “We are thankful for the hundreds of citizens who report sightings each year, providing valuable data to help in recovery efforts for the endangered Souther Resident orcas.”

Since the Federal listing of the Southern Resident Orcas under the Endangered Species Act, Orca Network has been assisting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association Fisheries and the Center for Whale Research to help track the winter travels of the Southern Residents both in Puget Sound and along the outer coast.

The public can help by reporting whale sightings immediately, so land-based observers can get out to see and photograph the whales as well. To make a report, call 1-866-ORCANET, email [email protected], or post on Orca Network’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/OrcaNetwork.

Whale sightings from the public provide critical information about travel patterns, and timely reports enable Orca Network to alert researchers who can then obtain photo identification and fecal samples from the whales during their visits to Puget Sound.

Reports should be as detailed as possible, including location, time, direction of travel, approximate number of whales, and if there are any adult males, which have large 5 to 6-foot dorsal fins. Also include any witnessed behaviors, such as breaching, spy-hops, feeding, etc. Photographs are welcome and can be emailed to Orca Network.

All sightings are in turn shared with researchers, agencies, and the public through our Whale Sightings Email list, Orca Network website and Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Whale Sighting Network and Orca Network website and Facebook Page also provide up to date information on the latest research and issues related to orcas, salmon, other cetaceans and their habitats, along with federal whale watching regulations and Be Whale Wise guidelines for viewing marine mammals.

To join the Whale Sighting Network Email List and receive whale sighting information, sign up at www.orcanetwork.org.

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Blue whales are making big comeback as fisherman, whale watchers, and scientists have all noted the population rebounding over the years.

Blue whales, the largest creatures ever to live on Planet Earth, are making a comeback off the coast of California.
The blue whale???s enormous size made it an enormous target for whalers during the last century and globally their population was driven to the brink of extinction, but according to a recent study in the journal Marine Mammal Science by researchers at the University of Washington, there are 2,200 blue whales living in the Eastern Pacific, which they estimate to be 97 percent of their historic population. [Editor’s note: WAY more than the population of Whaletown, B.C., go figure.]

That Blue whales are making big comeback is not surprise. Fisherman, whale watchers, and scientists have all noted the population rebounding over the years, but whether they are fully recovered is another question. The researchers used historic whaling records to estimate the number of blues that once lived in the northeastern Pacific and compared them to current population estimates. The problem is, some experts doubt the accuracy of the old accounts and believe the historic populations may have been much larger. Others question the notion that the oceans carrying capacity ??? in this case, the number of whales that it can support ??? is static. Just because 2,200 was the right number for this area in 1900, should it still be today?

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