Samara, Author at Animal Bioacoustics

A couple weeks ago I volunteered to be Danielle’s field assistant for the evening. All of the acoustics fieldwork I have helped with in the past has been on a boat, so I was happy to put aside my dead-week studying to learn a little bit about acoustics research on land. It also didn’t hurt that Danielle is well versed in field assistant bribery (Burgerville! Cookies!)

We headed out of town just after five pm, driving north past Albany to the Ankeny Wildlife Refuge. Danielle has a number of pond sites she visits on a rotating basis, Ankeny contains one.

We arrived at the pond in daylight and got right to work counting egg masses in the first study area. Since the egg masses are tricky to spot, it’s easier to work during the day. Together we walked in straight lines across the (shallow) pond for half an hour counting all of the egg masses we could see. Since the egg masses are so tiny, Danielle and I both had to hunch over to see into the pond, sometimes using our hands to confirm a sighting.

I hope someone buys Danielle a massage after her field season is over.

After we finished our survey effort, we shared some snacks and hung out until nighttime when the frogs started chorusing. When it was fully dark, we put on our waders and headed to a second pond to try and catch some adult frogs. I wasn’t very good at it (the frogs are so tiny and speedy) but Danelle caught a bunch and I helped her weigh and measure them. Finally it was time to record the chorusing!

Earlier in the day I asked Danielle if recording the frogs was a peaceful experience, similar to how I feel when I hear a whale on my hydrophone recordings. She hesitantly told me that sometimes it is…but often the frogs are are too loud for any sort of relaxation. It’s hard to believe that such a loud noise can come out of an animal that is hardly bigger than a quarter, but she was not kidding…

Next time in sharing our research…Danielle goes to sea!

I live only a couple blocks away from a busy section of railway, and every time I hear a train go by I am reminded of my work. You might think this is strange because my research is not related to trains, but it is not the train itself that reminds me…it is the blaring horn.

I am interested in looking at how noise in the ocean is disruptive to the animals that live there. Although it may be a bit anthropomorphic to say that my experience of a passing train outside my house is similar to a marine mammal in a shipping lane, many studies agree that noise (especially loud noise) is very disruptive.

In addition to weather and other animals, human activity such as shipping and fishing adds a great amount of noise to the ocean environment. And now the United States may to add even more noise by opening up new areas for oil drilling. Of course, drilling in the ocean is not new, but time and experience shows that it is not without problems. From searching for reserves, to rig installation, to the actual extraction, drilling is noisy and invasive.

Ocean drilling is a hot topic in recent news, but not every article mentions noise. As our government moves towards decisions about oil drilling in new areas, I hope that noise will become a larger part of the conversation.

Disclaimer: The aim of this post is to spread information, not start a debate. Politics are complicated and this is not my platform to share personal opinions.

This past month has been a very busy one for me. In mid-December I packed up my home in Massachusetts, said goodbye to my friends in Woods Hole, and headed West for the long drive to Oregon. Luckily, the weather was beautiful (almost) every day and the trip was as easy as a 3,500 mile drive can be.

Green and wet, Multnomah Falls welcomed me to the Pacific Northwest.

My first classes began right after the new year and I have been adjusting to student life. After three weeks on campus, I can now find my way around pretty easily. This term I am working on my research proposal and focusing on coursework that will be useful to me as I work towards my degree. When I have free time I am doing my best to explore Corvallis and take advantage of what campus has to offer. For example, last week I was able to hear Cheryl Strayed speak about her novel ‘Wild’ right on campus. There is certainly a wealth of opportunities here at OSU – through the Fisheries and Wildlife department, our OCRAA lab group, and the university at large – I am looking forward to taking advantage of as much as I can!

Since we are between terms at OSU, this month I will share a bit of extracurricular reading . I recently picked up “Blue Mind” by Dr. Wallace “J” Nichols. Dr. Nichols created the blue mind project to explore why humans love being near the water and how it influences our cognition.

blue_mind

I am particularly interested in Dr. Wallace’s suggestion of “neuroconservation”, that is, the idea that neuroscience can be a tool to identify why humans have an affinity towards the ocean and nature, and then use that understanding to influence people to protect and conserve natural resources.

Emotion, as he explains in the first section of “Blue mind”, dictates the decisions we make – and exposure to the natural world creates positive emotions. For example, simply being in the presence of water can help relax the mind and body, while movement such as swimming can magnify this effect even further. Specifically, Dr. Nichols explains, the human body’s natural boyancy in water creates a powerful pressure that eases circulation and increases oxygen intake, relaxing the mind and reducing stress. Do we choose to do better when we feel better? Logically, that seems reasonable and as a marine scientist I hope that “neuroconservation” can be a means to direct passive ocean enjoyment into attention towards and participation in active conservation efforts.

As a researcher, part of my job is to engage the public with my work — which is not always easy. “Blue mind” considers the use of psychological techniques in public outreach. Could strategies currently used in advertising for consumer goods be applied towards conservation awareness? I am inspired by the possibilities for aquariums, preserves, and beaches to improve education and visitor engagement.

What do you think about using neuroscience for conservation? Would you read “Blue mind”?

I promise that I won’t write about Noise Reference Station deployments every time I post here, but getting a couple of these moorings into the water has been a significant part of my fall.

Typically the NRS moorings are designed to suspend acoustic recording equipment in the water column, held in place by a large steel anchor and extra strong marine cables. However, for this specific deployment we needed a different approach. This station, NRS09, is located in Stellwagen Bank, a marine sanctuary off the coast of Boston, MA and north of Cape Cod. Because of the geography and weather of the North Atlantic, the design of this mooring had to be substantial enough to resist the rough storms known to come through Stellwagen Bank.

Ready for shipment to Woods Hole, MA from Newport, OR.

I wasn’t responsible for engineering a structure that would protect our hydrophone for a year underwater, but we did have to figure out how we would get the 750 lbs and 39 sq. ft. structure off the shipping truck and into the ocean. Usually, the acoustic recorders we use to data collection are small, ~80 lbs Cornell Bioacoustics Research Program MARUs, and much more manageable for shipment and deployment…the giant NRS09 structure presented a new challenge and we planned every detail very carefully.

To my relief, NRS09 just barely fit on the back deck of the Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary boat, the RV Auk. But our problem solving was not still not complete, we also had to figure out how to lower the structure to the ocean floor. Although our deployment site was fairly shallow, only about 65 meters, a normal quick release was not going to work this time. What if we could not get the catch to open? Instead, Dave Slocum (the Facilities and Vessel Operations Coordinator at the Sanctuary office) wired an electronic release that would open at the touch of a button.

We waited for a weather window and headed out to the far East side of Stellwagen. It was a very nice day on the water, we even saw a couple of humpback and fin whales on our way to the site. But of course, the best part is that the deployment went off without a hitch.

Eric Matzen and I give NRS09 a push off the RV Auk for deployment in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary.

Luckily, we don’t need to worry about getting it back to Newport for a year…

-Samara

*Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! Since this is a holiday weekend, I’m getting festive with a blog-post bonus link. Check out this cool (and a little weird) acoustics project. Is it art or science? Both? You decide.*

Although I won’t be formally joining the lab until January, my informal transition has already begun. Luckily for me, my tenure at as graduate student started off with a fieldwork cruise! In September I joined the crew of the Bell M. Shimada to assist with the deployment of one of ORCAAlab’s Ocean Noise Reference Station (NRS) moorings. The focus of my graduate research will be to analyze recordings from the NRS project, so it was exciting to have the opportunity to help out with a deployment.

This is a map of the NRS deployments. On the Shimada I helped deploy NRS03.

The Ocean Noise Reference Stations will be deployed in NOAA Marine Sanctuaries and some other US marine areas of interest. We hope that the recordings from these moorings will allow us to compare ocean soundscapes and monitor long-term changes in a new way. Currently, many different types of autonomous recording units (ARU) exist and are used by passive acoustics research groups. While this is excellent for documenting ocean noise in isolated areas, different recording technology and mooring design make it difficult to compare soundscapes. The NRS project recorders are all calibrated to the exact same specifications so we may accurately compare ambient ocean noise around the US and in NOAA sanctuary waters.

On this trip we were to deploy NRS station 3, off the coast of Washington State. We set sail out of Newport on a wet and windy day. This was my first journey in the Pacific ocean, and the weather certainly lived up to my expectations! Avoiding the offshore storms, we started our trip by traveling north along the coast of Oregon. Cheif scientist Jay Peterson recruited a science crew of faculty, students, and volunteers and we were all assigned watches and jobs for our week on the Shimada. Between all of us we would process water samples (via CTD), jig for squid, dip-net for jellyfish, retrieve a NOAA DART (Deep-ocean Assesment and Reporting of Tsunamis) monitoring buoy, and deploy a Noise Reference Station. Suffice to say, we had a busy week at sea!

Preparing the float for deployment. — Preparing the float for deployment (photo credit: Megan Stachura) .

I was also able to help out with some of the other projects. Here I am helping to catch jellyfish for Samantha Zeman’s project.

Trying to catch jellyfish in the dip net. — Trying to catch jellyfish in the dip net (photo credit: Megan Stachura) .

We came across a swarm of jellyfish on out way back into Newport. — We came across a swarm of jellyfish on out way back into Newport (photo credit: Megan Stachura).

It was great to have the opportunity to visit Newport before starting at OSU this winter, and I hope I get a chance to help with another deployment soon!

Animal Bioacoustics

Technology. Ecology. Noise

Author Archives: Samara

Herpetology with Danielle

Keep it down out there!

Back to School

Blue mind

Another month, another deployment

Cruising the Pacific

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