whales and dolphins communication

Dr Denise Herzing preparing to make breakthrough with new system at sea

2011-05-09T19:50:00.003-05:00

Learning to speak dolphin Pattern detector

(New Scientist Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)

A computer system that divers can wear may bridge the language barrier
between us and dolphins A DIVER carrying a computer that tries to
recognize dolphin sounds and generate responses in real time will soon
attempt to communicate with wild dolphins off the coast of Florida. If
the bid is successful, it will be a big step towards two-way
communication between humans and dolphins.

Since the 1960s, captive dolphins have been communicating via pictures
and sounds. In the 1990s, Louis Herman of the Kewalo Basin Marine
Mammal Laboratory in Honolulu, Hawaii, found that bottlenose dolphins
can keep track of over 100 different words. They can also respond
appropriately to commands in which the same words appear in a
different order, understanding the difference between "bring the
surfboard to the man" and "bring the man to the surfboard", for
example.

But communication in most of these early experiments was one-way, says
Denise Herzing, founder of the Wild Dolphin Project in Jupiter,
Florida. "They create a system and expect the dolphins to learn it,
and they do, but the dolphins are not empowered to use the system to
request things from the humans," she says.

Since 1998, Herzing and colleagues have been attempting two-way
communication with dolphins, first using rudimentary artificial
sounds, then by getting them to associate the sounds with four large
icons on an underwater "keyboard".

By pointing their bodies at the different symbols, the dolphins could
make requests - to play with a piece of seaweed or ride the bow wave
of the divers' boat, for example. The system managed to get the
dolphins' attention, Herzing says, but wasn't "dolphin-friendly"
enough to be successful.

Herzing is now collaborating with Thad Starner, an artificial
intelligence researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology in
Atlanta, on a project named Cetacean Hearing and Telemetry (CHAT).
They want to work with dolphins to "co-create" a language that uses
features of sounds that wild dolphins communicate with naturally.

Knowing what to listen for is a huge challenge. Dolphins can produce
sound at frequencies up to 200 kilohertz - around 10 times as high as
the highest pitch we can hear - and can also shift a signal's pitch or
stretch it out over a long period of time.

The animals can also project sound in different directions without
turning their heads, making it difficult to use visual cues alone to
identify which dolphin in a pod "said" what and to guess what a sound
might mean.

To record, interpret and respond to dolphin sounds, Starner and his
students are building a prototype device featuring a smartphone-sized
computer and two hydrophones capable of detecting the full range of
dolphin sounds.

A diver will carry the computer in a waterproof case worn across the
chest, and LEDs embedded around the diver's mask will light up to show
where a sound picked up by the hydrophones originates from. The diver
will also have a Twiddler - a handheld device that acts as a
combination of mouse and keyboard - for selecting what kind of sound
to make in response.

Herzing and Starner will start testing the system on wild Atlantic
spotted dolphins (Stenella frontalis) in the middle of this year. At
first, divers will play back one of eight "words" coined by the team
to mean "seaweed" or "bow wave ride", for example. The software will
listen to see if the dolphins mimic them. Once the system can
recognize these mimicked words, the idea is to use it to crack a much
harder problem: listening to natural dolphin sounds and pulling out
salient features that may be the "fundamental units" of dolphin
communication.

The researchers don't know what these units might be. But the
algorithms they are using are designed to sift through any unfamiliar
data set and pick out interesting features (see "Pattern detector", p
23). The software does this by assuming an average state for the data
and labeling features that deviate from it. It then groups similar
types of deviations - distinct sets of clicks or whistles, say - and
continues to do so until it has extracted all potentially interesting
patterns.

Once these units are identified, Herzing hopes to combine them to make
dolphin-like signals that the animals find more interesting than
human-coined "words". By associating behaviors and objects with these
sounds, she may be the first to decode the rudiments of dolphins'
natural language.

Justin Gregg of the Dolphin Communication Project, a non-profit
organization in Old Mystic, Connecticut, thinks that getting wild
dolphins to adopt and use artificial "words" could work, but is
skeptical that the team will find "fundamental units" of natural
dolphin communication.

Even if they do, deciphering their meanings and using them in the
correct context poses a daunting challenge. "Imagine if an alien
species landed on Earth wearing elaborate spacesuits and walked
through Manhattan speaking random lines from The Godfather to
passers-by," he says.

"We don't even know if dolphins have words," Herzing admits. But she
adds, "We could use their signals, if we knew them. We just don't." n
The software that Thad Starner is using to make sense of dolphin
sounds was originally designed by him and a former student, David
Minnen, to "discover" interesting features in any data set. After
analyzing a sign-language video, the software labeled 23 of 40 signs
used. It also identified when the person started and stopped signing,
or scratched their head.

The software has also identified gym routines - dumb-bell curls, for
example - by analyzing readings from accelerometers worn by the person
exercising, even though the software had not previously encountered
such data. However, Starner cautions that if meaning must be ascribed
to the patterns picked out by the software, then this will require
human input.

Drs Reiss and Marino at AAAS to argue for dolphin legal protection

2010-01-10T09:06:00.006-05:00

Drs Reiss and Marino, and others, will be at the AAAS conference

Fed. 18-22, in San Diego, to argue for dolphin legal protection.

The abstract: http://aaas.confex.com/aaas/2010/webprogram/Session1526.html

Intelligence of Dolphins: Ethical and Policy Implications

Sunday, February 21, 2010: 3:30 PM-5:00 PM

Room 7B (San Diego Convention Center)

The dolphin brain has a large cerebral cortex and a substantial amount of associational neocortex. Most anatomical ratios that assess cognitive capacity place it second only to the human brain. More important, recent research in marine science has revealed that dolphins have a remarkable degree of cognitive and affective sophistication. For example, dolphins can recognize their image in a mirror as a reflection of themselves -- a finding that indicates self-awareness similar to that seen in higher primates and elephants. These and other studies, which have found that dolphins are also capable of advanced cognitive abilities such as problem-solving, artificial language comprehension, and complex social behavior, indicate that dolphins are far more intellectually and emotionally sophisticated than previously thought. Considerable research indicates that they are significantly different from fish and other marine species, and this research has significance for commercial policy and practice. This symposium will present the scientific findings and explore their ethical and policy implications.

Organizer:

Stephanie J. Bird, Science and Engineering Ethics

Co-organizers:

Thomas I. White, Loyola Marymount University
and Dena K. Plemmons, University of California

Moderator:

Stephanie J. Bird, Science and Engineering Ethics

Discussant:

Jerry R. Schubel, Aquarium of the Pacific

Speakers:

Lori Marino, Emory University
Anatomical Basis of Dolphin Intelligence

Diana Reiss, Hunter College of the City University of New York
Self-Awareness and Dolphins

Thomas I. White, Loyola Marymount University
Ethical Implications of Dolphin Intelligence: Dolphins as Nonhuman Persons

Article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6973994.ece

The wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cetacean_intelligence

Echoing porpoise clicks as an alert

2008-09-09T18:51:00.004-05:00

Extract from http://tinyurl.com/3ye7jp :

The PPD alerts porpoises to the presence of fishing nets using resonant acoustic reflectors that increase the net’s “acoustic visibility”, and do so in a less complicated way than the currently used pingers.

When a porpoise emits a click, the reflectors transmit back a stronger echo, making the reflectors appear to the porpoise to be much larger objects than they are, and thus alerting them to danger.

Marine Mammal Bibliography Web Site

2008-09-07T18:14:00.000-05:00

Marine Mammal Bibliography web site - scientific articles:

http://www.mmbib.com/news.php

NRDC.org Protecting Whales from Dangerous Sonar

2008-09-07T17:58:00.005-05:00

This page has links to NRDC's pdf file and a movie narrated by Pierce Brosnan.

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sound/contents.asp

Extract from http://johnmuir.ucdavis.edu/featurettes/lethal_sound.html:

High-intensity military sonar, which generates sound at levels in the range of 235 dB, has been proven to disturb, injure and even kill marine mammals. The Navy’s mid-frequency sonar devices are in widespread use and have been definitively connected to mass strandings of whales. The Navy’s Low Frequency Active Sonar, in the early stage of deployment around the world, carries for hundreds of miles. Even 100 miles from the source sound levels can approach 160 decibels. During tests near Alaska, the Navy calculated sound levels of 140 decibels 300 miles from the source ship -- an intensity level approximately 100 times more intense than the noise aversion threshold for gray whales.

Great and rare images of Beaked Whales from the Washington Post

The 2007 WP article is here.

Time Mag. Writes About Japanese Dolphin Hunt

2008-09-07T17:50:00.001-05:00

The Time magazine published and article about the horrible dolphin hunt in Japan.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1668448,00.html

Dolphin communicates with Pygmy Sperm Whales

2008-03-16T09:47:00.001-05:00

Eye witness report (anecdotal info): Moko the dolphin comes to the rescue of a Pygmy Sperm Whale and her calf who repeatedly stranded despite much help by an expert, Malcolm Smith. Moko swims between M. Smith and the whales, communicates with them and gets them to follow her to safety.

http://tinyurl.com/2wx7ht

Interspecies communication.

The witness, Malcolm Smith, is an experienced field worker for the New Zealand Department of Conservation.

Thanks Mark.

Most Impressive Video of Dolphins with Tores

2008-01-22T21:02:00.000-05:00

This most impressive video shows the skill and intelligence of a captive dolphin to create a very subtle game with tores (circular bubble) of air generated with its blow hole and manipulated with its mouth.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1041454/dolphin_play_bubble_rings/

David Rothenberg Plays Music with Belugas

2008-01-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILPzkze3RHw

David Rothenberg does two way underwater communication experiments with Belugas in the wild. One of the most advanced communication research in the world today, at least in the non-military field.

David has written a book on his work, to be published later in 2008: Thousand mile song.

http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails-Thousand+Mile+Song+-9780465071289.html

"Whale song is an astonishing world of sound whose existence no one suspected before the 1960s. Its discovery has forced us to confront the possibility of an alien intelligence not in outer space but right here on earth. This title uses the enigma of whale sounds to open up whales' underwater world of sonic mystery."

Xanadu Halkias, leading researcher

2008-01-22T20:42:00.000-05:00

http://www.ee.columbia.edu/~xanadu/research.html

Xanadu Halkias, leading researcher in dolphin communication.

Theory of Mind in Apes

2008-01-22T20:37:00.000-05:00

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/monkey-200801.html?c=y&page=1

From The Smithsonian:

Santos' interest here is in what psychologists call "theory of mind," the ability to impute thoughts and intentions to another individual, one of the cornerstones of human cognition. "Sitting here talking with you," Santos explains, "all I can see is your behavior, but I draw inferences about your desires and thoughts. The interesting question is, how far back in evolutionary time does that ability extend? Can it exist without language?" As recently as a decade ago, the conventional wisdom doubted that even chimpanzees, which are more closely related to human beings than are monkeys, possessed theory of mind. This view is changing, in large measure because of the work of Santos and her collaborators. With her students in tow and a small bag of grapes in her pocket, Santos is now out to demonstrate the phenomenon—if a Macaca mulatta can be induced to cooperate.

Beautiful : earthOCEAN.tv

2008-01-22T20:22:00.000-05:00

Beautiful and informative new web site:

http://earthOCEAN.tv

PDF on Passive Acoustic Monitoring - 10 Pages

2008-01-22T20:01:00.000-05:00

Excellent overview of the domain, from Dr. David K. Mellinger, a world-leading researcher in cetacean acoustics, NOAA, et al.:

ftp://newportftp.pmel.noaa.gov/newport/mellinger/papers/MellingerEtAl07-AcousticCetaceanObservation.pdf

Terri Irwin trying to stop Japanese Whalers

2008-01-22T19:54:00.000-05:00

Terri Irwin is working with Oregon State University to do some research on whales that will show that Japan's excuse for killing whales is a scam.

http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/

Dolphin helped by people

2008-01-22T19:43:00.000-05:00

This dolphin caught in a rope was rescued and needed to be escorted to sea by Mike Cemm, near Dorset, UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/dorset/7200311.stm

Apparently true story of a surfer saved by a few dolphins

2007-11-11T21:27:00.000-05:00

Apparently true story of a man saved by a few dolphins. Typical plot:
- surfer bitten by large shark,
- dolphins surround the man to prevent shark from killing the man,
- man reaches shore and survives to tell the tale.

From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21689083/

Dolphins save surfer from becoming shark’s bait
A pod of bottlenose dolphins helped protect the severely injured boarder

Nov. 8: Todd Endris was surfing when he was bitten by a 12- to 15-foot shark, but thanks to a couple of Flippers and a friend he survived. TODAY anchor Meredith Vieira reports.

Surfer Todd Endris needed a miracle. The shark, a monster great white that came out of nowhere, had hit him three times, peeling the skin off his back and mauling his right leg to the bone.

That’s when a pod of bottlenose dolphins intervened, forming a protective ring around Endris, allowing him to get to shore, where quick first aid provided by a friend saved his life.

Truly a miracle, Endris told TODAY’s Natalie Morales on Thursday.

The attack occurred on Tuesday, Aug. 28, just before 11 a.m. at Marina State Park off Monterey, Calif., where the 24-year-old owner of Monterey Aquarium Services had gone with friends for a day of the sport they love. Nearly four months later, Endris, who is still undergoing physical therapy to repair muscle damage suffered during the attack, is back in the water and on his board in the same spot where he almost lost his life.

[It] came out of nowhere. There’s no warning at all.

Maybe I saw him a quarter second before it hit me. But no warning. It was just a giant shark, Endris said. It just shows you what a perfect predator they really are.

The shark, estimated at 12 to 15 feet long, hit him first as Endris was sitting on his surfboard, but couldn’t get its monster jaws around both surfer and surfboard. The second time, he came down and clamped on my torso sandwiched my board and my torso in his mouth, Endris said.

That attack shredded his back, literally peeling the skin back, he said, like a banana peel. But because Endris’ stomach was pressed to the surfboard, his intestines and internal organs were protected.

The third time, the shark tried to swallow Endris’ right leg, and he said that was actually a good thing, because the shark’s grip anchored him while he kicked the beast in the head and snout with his left leg until it let go.

The dolphins, which had been cavorting in the surf all along, showed up then. They circled him, keeping the shark at bay, and enabled Endris to get back on his board and catch a wave to the shore.

Our finned friends
No one knows why dolphins protect humans, but stories of the marine mammals rescuing humans go back to ancient Greece, according to the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

A year ago in New Zealand, the group reports, four lifeguards were saved from sharks in the same way Endris was by dolphins forming a protective ring.

Though horribly wounded, Endris said he didn’t think he was going to die. Actually, it never crossed my mind, he told Morales.

It did, though, cross the minds of others on the beach, including some lifeguards who told his friend, Brian Simpson, that Endris wasn’t going to make it.

Simpson is an X-ray technician in a hospital trauma center, and he’d seen badly injured people before. He had seen Endris coming in and knew he was hurt.

I was expecting him to have leg injuries, he told Morales. It was a lot worse than I was expecting.

Blood was pumping out of the leg, which had been bitten to the bone, and Endris, who lost half his blood, was ashen white. To stop the blood loss, Simpson used his surf leash as a tourniquet, which probably saved his life.

Thanks to this guy, Endris said, referring to Simpson, who sat next to him in the TODAY studio, once I got to the beach, he was calming me down and keeping me from losing more blood by telling me to slow my breathing and really just be calm. They wouldn’t let me look at my wounds at all, which really helped.

A medivac helicopter took him to a hospital, where a surgeon had to first figure out what went where before putting him back together.

It was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, Endris said.

...

The shark went on its way, protected inside the waters of the park, which is a marine wildlife refuge. Endris wouldn’t want it any other way.

I wouldn’t want to go after the shark anyway, he said. We’re in his realm, not the other way around.

Fin Whales - Greyhounds of the Sea - 20 Knots Easy

2007-10-12T18:36:00.000-05:00

CERSI, based in Sept-îles, reports: Two fin whales were seen swimming a linear trajectory in a synchronized manner, one behind the other. Swimming powerfully and rapidly, the animals dived for only short periods just beneath the surface. Their heads and blows created an explosive noise each time they surfaced. The two fin whales maintained formation for 10 breathing sequences out of 12: one behind the other, with the lead animal slightly to the right. The research team was not able to track the whales for very long; they covered two nautical miles in six minutes at a speed of 20 knots (37 km/hr).

Source: http://www.whales-online.net/eng/FSC.html?sct=1&pag=1-1-1.html

Humpback Routes In Pacific by NOAA

2007-10-12T18:10:00.000-05:00

NOAA has a new map of travel routes of Humpback whales in the Pacific.

Excellent scientific evidence that for these whales, the Pacific, and maybe more, is theirs, their *land* has we would say. Entire oceans are where they live.

Cachalot Starring on YouTube

2007-10-08T16:20:00.000-05:00

Link to a video on YouTube showing a Cachalot, aka. Sperm Whale, touching an underwater robot.

Marine Mammal Bibliography

2007-10-08T10:27:00.000-05:00

Great new site with weekly listing of new scientific publications on marine mammals:
http://www.mmbib.com/news.html

Alex the parrot died recently - Pathology Results

2007-10-08T10:05:00.000-05:00

Alex, the one on the right, was a parrot, not a cetacean, but was extremely important in cognition and language research in all of history. The works of Dr Irene Pepperberg and her team were recognized by all major English-speaking science news channels when Alex died Sept. 6, 2007. We are supporting them in this difficult period and also supporting the continuation of their research with their other two younger parrots.

http://www.alexfoundation.org/

Posted on http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AlexFoundation/ by: "Jaimi @ The Alex Foundation" greyburd@remembering-alex.org
Thu Oct 4, 2007 9:01 am (PST)

Alex died quickly. He had a sudden, unexpected catastrophic event associated with arterosclerosis ("hardening of the arteries"). It was either a fatal arrhythmia, heart attack or stroke, which caused him to die suddenly with no suffering. There was no way to predict his demise. All of his tests, including his cholesterol level and as per levels, came back normal earlier that week. His death could not be connected to his current diet or his age; our veterinarian said that she has seen similar events in young (<10 year old) birds on healthy diets. Most likely, genetics or the same kind of low-level (impossible to detect in birds as yet) inflammatory disease that is related to heart disease in humans was responsible. We will have no further information.

WATCH: Western African Talks on Cetaceans and their Habitats

2007-08-26T18:35:00.000-05:00

Meeting organized by the UNEP Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species of Wild Animals (CMS) as part of the Year of the Dolphin
campaign:

WATCH - Western African Talks on Cetaceans and their Habitats

WATCH is a series of scientific and inter-governmental meetings on
marine mammals that will take place in Adeje, Tenerife, Spain, during
the week of 16-20 October 2007.

WATCH will be divided in three main sessions:

1) A one-day session open to governments, institutions,
non-governmental organisations and the private sector to discuss threats
to and challenges for the conservation of cetaceans in the Eastern
Atlantic Ocean;

2) A one-day whale watching capacity building workshop to present
and discuss best practices in the region and worldwide, including a
whale watching tour;

3) A three-day negotiation session between the Range States (open
to invited observers) to agree on a Conservation and Action Plan for
Small Cetaceans in Western African Waters, and determine the scope and
format of a new CMS instrument for the Conservation of the West African
Manatee and Cetaceans of the Eastern Atlantic Basin.

More information on the background of CMS's initiative, the meeting and
logistics can be found at http://www.cms.int/species/waam/watch.htm,
which is regularly being updated.

For all queries, please contact:

Ms Heidrun Frisch

Marine Mammals Officer

UNEP/CMS Secretariat

Leafy Seadragon Demonstrated in Boston

2007-08-26T13:17:00.000-05:00

Leafy Seadragon, the first open source application to research cetacean communication by using two-way underwater acoustic interactions, was successfully demonstrated at the 3rd International Workshop on Detection and Classification of Marine Mammals using Passive Acoustics, on July 24, 2007, in Boston.

Ken Ekstrom from MIT did a great job with his audio equipment and personal whales and dolphins recordings. Thanks to Ken, we had a very entertaining poster session, with lots of whales and dolphins recordings.

Friendships were re-enforced and new friendships started.

Tourists Witness Japanese Killing of Beaked Whale

2007-08-26T11:32:00.000-05:00

From Yahoo! News:

Bloody whale hunt off Japan shocks tourists: report

Sat Aug 25, 1:46 PM ET

TOKYO (AFP) - Whale watching tourists encountered hunters in waters off northern Japan and witnessed the bloody killing of a Baird's Beaked Whale, a report said Saturday.

Some 20 tourists on board the whale-watching ship Evergreen, some of them foreigners, witnessed the hunt Friday morning off the eastern coast of Hokkaido island, touching Okhotsk Sea, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper said.

The crew on Evergreen initially noticed a whaling ship and sprays from a whale's blowhole in waters about 3.5 kilometres (roughly 2.2 miles) away from them, the newspaper said, citing a Japanese whale watching guide.

When Evergreen approached within about 100 metres (330 feet) of the whaling ship, the tourists saw a harpoon shot into a Baird's Beaked Whale, according to the guide, the newspaper said.

Two other whale watching ships were also in the area, and the hunt sickened a few tourists and shocked children, the guide claimed, the Mainichi said.

Baird's Beaked Whale is not considered to be endangered.

"Our job is to show whales, and their job is to hunt. But can we do something about this situation?" the Evergreen's captain told the newspaper.

Meanwhile, the whaling ship has asked local authorities to warn tourism vessels that they have been getting too close to the whaling ship and operating dangerously, the Mainichi said.

TalkBank - Database on vocal communication of people and animals

2007-04-28T13:35:00.000-05:00

This page offers software and xml schemas for exchaning data on vocal communication. A very similar approach used by the Leafy Seadragon system.

TalkBank appears to be an academic site funded by the US National Science Foundation.

Appears to be mostly used for researching aphasia.

TODO read.

Sound in the Sea

2007-04-28T13:31:00.000-05:00

Great site on cetacean and underwater acoustics by the Univ. of Rhode Island. Many informative pages, such as:

How Marine Mammals Communicate Using Sound.

Visit the pages linked on the left side.

Research on Humpbacks around Hawai'i

2007-04-28T13:23:00.000-05:00

At the Pacific Whale Foundation. Is it still active in research?

AcousticEcology.org - Great Site for Cetacean Acoustic

2007-04-09T14:21:00.000-05:00

Large, beautiful, site, with great scientific sections, such as the Science Programs. One of the best of the www.

Underwater Vehicule to Listen to Whales

2007-03-03T13:36:00.000-05:00

Photo: WHOI

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in 2006 use passive acoustic recorders in an ocean glider, a type of Autonomous Underwater Vehicule (AUV) that looks like a large model airplane and can work at depths of more than 1,000 meters (about 3,300 feet).

Bowheads, aka. Greenland right whales, can live to 200

2007-03-03T13:24:00.000-05:00

Photograph by Paul Nicklen/NGS

Here's the article. The data is mainly from eye tissue analysis.

Paradise: Monkey Mia, Australia

2007-03-03T12:51:00.000-05:00

Dolphins by the beach (some feed humans)

Resort: http://www.monkeymia.com.au/site/awdep.asp?depnum=11526&menu=HOME

World Leading Research: http://monkeymiadolphins.org/

Video: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/953593/wild_dolphins_of_monkey_mia/

US Navy using dolphins for 35 years

2007-02-14T18:30:00.000-05:00

It's now official, for some reason. Oh, they've also been using seals.

The NY Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/13/us/13puget.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The Navy's web site on mammals "technology" (their word):
http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/technology/mammals/

A history of dolphins in the US Navy by PBS.

SAIC, Science Applications International Corporation, a major military contractor and IT provider, supports the US Navy marine mammals programs: http://www.saic.com/biosolutions/services.html#support

Upgraded listening device by Oceanwide Science

2007-02-11T14:45:00.000-05:00

http://www.oceanwidescience.org/docs/4ch-UDDAS.html

Oceanwide Science Institute, in Honolulu, has greatly improved their underwater listening device. Have a look at their web site. Great stuff.

Do they also have some emitters, like Seadragon?

Salish Sea Journal

2007-02-04T18:07:00.000-05:00

Nice blog from the US West Coast about, among other things, orcas and navy sonar issues.

Music with the White Whales of the White Sea

2007-02-04T17:55:00.000-05:00

http://terrain.org/columns/19/bullhill.htm - David Rothenberg - Photo credit also David Rothenberg.

The whales replied to David's underwater emissions. An on-line sound clip is included.

Great page on dolphin whistles

2007-02-04T17:34:00.000-05:00

Includes on-line recordings and spectrograms.

http://www.archipelago.gr/en/viewpage.asp?page=mammals/Acoustics.html

From researchers working in the Aegean Sea.

Superiority Complex - Part 3

2007-02-04T17:17:00.000-05:00

Clergy of many stripes have recently stated that the Homo Sapiens species has been created directly by an act of God and has not evolved over time from a series of species. This is 2007, 374 years since Galileo's trial in 1633, and many members of alleged religious hierarchies are still promoting dogmas over the reality of scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge is not perfect but much of it is actually true, even if it contradicts some dogmas.

The fact that some of these members of religious hierarchies who favor dogmas over truth, also favor going to war over dogmas, is significant. This is a clear example of the human behavior pattern that I call the superiority complex, aka., the king of the hill syndrome. It also shows that this syndrome is related to the negation of truth, the suppression of thinking, the imposition of ideas in other people's mind, in the mind of people who do not know enough about science to protect themselves against such anti-scientific propaganda.

This is the same process involved in the continuation of whaling and other types of cetacean exploitation. Because it is related to the idea that Homo sapiens is the only sentient species on Earth.

One difference between the anti-science example and whaling is that in the later we have a lack of science, not simply a lack of education as in the former. Scientists and educated people who support whaling and other such exploitation are behaving just like the anti-science people who condemned Galileo a long time ago and who oppose science today, but without the excuse of a lack of education. So what are they lacking? Humility.

The superiority complex appears to be actually preventing science from progressing when science threatens the superiority complex itself.

Minke - Some Minke seem interested in us

2007-01-26T18:12:00.000-05:00

I once observed a Minke breaching to observe me at about 2 meters eye to eye after I emitted a few whistles underwater (at very low power).

The Minke, with the Humpback, may be the few baleen whales species that may have sufficient interest in us, puny Homo sapiens, to try to communicate with us, if we ever get our act together.

Here's a good page from the BBC on Minke with links to other species.

Update 2007.03.03: Minkes may be the source of the mysterious "boing" sounds acquired in the Pacific over the years.

Orca Vocalization Analysed

2007-01-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

www.zoology.ubc.ca/~deecke/oo.html

In depth analysis of Orca vocalizations. TODO read carefully.

Update 2007.03.03: Dr. Michael Noonan on cultural learning by Orcas.

Update 2007.03.03: Article on signature whistles by Orcas. Dr. Anna Nousek, lead researcher, and working at both St Andrews and Florida State universities, says the study has produced the

"first indication that shared killer whale calls contain some degree of individual signature information...This study has shown variations within shared call types, with strongly recognisable group signatures and less prominent individual signatures..."

Update 2007.03.03: Luna the Orca did bark like a sea lion at times. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060824-barking-whale.html

4 Recorded Orca Vocalizations

2007-01-22T19:32:00.000-05:00

From the new web site from the Center for Whale Research, WA, USA.

Mike Johnson's Great Blue Whale Photos

2007-01-21T11:12:00.000-05:00

http://www.earthwindow.com/blue.html - Some of the best in the world.

California is Restricting The US Navy Sonar

2007-01-21T11:07:00.000-05:00

The article is here.

Update 2007.01.24: The Navy is taking itself out of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) for 2 years.

This decision covers all of the Navy's sonar everywhere. It follows the decision from the California Coastal Commission a few weeks ago to require additional *mitigation* (i.e., restrictions) on the use of military sonar off the California coast.

Update 2007.03.03: "The Navy is proposing a 660-square-mile sonar range off the coast of North Carolina to train sailors and pilots to detect submarines." - news article April 2006.

Update 2007.03.03: British Navy Sonar blamed for the death of 6 whales in 2006.
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article352180.ece

Avisoft has great products for bioacoustic research

2007-01-21T11:03:00.000-05:00

Example: The UltraSoundGate 116-200

I need this rigged for underwater work.

Oil Industry Using Underwater Acoustics to Protect Cetaceans

2007-01-21T10:28:00.000-05:00

OGP: Association of Oil and Gas Producers, based in London, England.
JIP: Joint Industry Programme
E&P: Exploration and Production

http://www.soundandmarinelife.org/ - an OGP web site

The members of the OGP are listed here.

The OGP is planning to spend approximately $8 Million per year over the next 3 to 5 years researching the effects of oil industry underwater sounds on marine life, e.g., the very loud seismic detonations.

Here are some of the whale enthousiasts, researchers, underwater acoustic hardware and software manufacturers, and hard-hat oil contractors involved in underwater cetacean acoustics:

http://www.sml-uk.co.uk/towed.htm

http://www.seamap.com/environmental_cetacean.html

http://ecologicuk.co.uk/

http://www.projectminke.com/

http://www.orcanetwork.org/

http://www.pamguard.org/ - open source C program on sourceforge.net performing passive cetacean acoustic analysis - appears to be well done. TODO evaluate

http://www.oceanear.com/ - underwater acoustics systems for the marine oil industry. Part of WGP, an independent British seismic contractor. Aka. Marine Geophysical Services.

interspecies.com January 2007 Issue

2007-01-04T18:39:00.000-05:00

Jim Nollman at interspecies.com has published the January 2007 issue of his emag, a 6-page pdf.

Progress on Baleen Whales Acoustic Communication

2006-12-30T14:47:00.000-05:00

Humpbacks' *hierarchical structure of communication* demonstrated in paper in the March 2006 issue of the venerable Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. This is an article on the article.

January 2006 BioScience issue has an article by David Mellinger (Oregon State University) et al. on apparent *dialects* within the same species, and not just for one species. The article seems to include work on Blue and Right whales communication. This is an article on the article. We'll have to read the original version in BioScience.

Right Whales - The Most Endangered

2006-12-29T13:22:00.000-05:00

(photo: NOAA)

Right Whales are being helped by the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/right_whales

A 34-second wavelet video of a Right Whale emission, credit Mark Fischer, Aguasonic.com: http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=3762058162618410967

Progress on vocal communication of the apes

2006-12-26T12:30:00.000-05:00

From the Dec. 20 issue of the journal PLoS ONE:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ydlp8w

The Syntax and Meaning of Wild Gibbon Songs

Esther Clarke¹, Ulrich H. Reichard²^,³, Klaus Zuberbühler¹^*

1 School of Psychology, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Scotland,

2 Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany,

3 Department of Anthropology, Southern-Illinois University, Carbondale, United States of America

Nice work.

Calls were digitised using Cool Edit 2000 software. Spectrograms were made using Raven 1.2.1 with a Hanning window function, 8.71 Hz filter bandwidth, 0.5 Hz frequency resolution and 15 s grid time resolution.

Btw, these acoustic analysis tools are not for live work (near real-time). For live acoustic 2-way interactions where you can also emit sounds, you can use the free Leafy Seadragon software.

The food of the larger toothed whales

2006-12-26T12:06:00.000-05:00

Tsunemi Kubodera, chief of Division of Invertebrate Zoology at the National Science Museum of Japan, showing off a Giant Squid near Ogasawara Islands, Japan, on December 4, 2006. The squid is about 3.5 metres (11.5 feet) long and about 50 kg (110 lbs). It was caught at a depth of 650 metres (2132.5 feet) in that area. (National Science Museum of Japan/Handout/Reuters)

These are eaten by the larger odontocetes such as the cachalots as well as by even larger squids, the Colossal Squid.
Update 2007.03.03: Here's a recent news article on a captured Colossal, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6385071.stm

Update 2007.03.25: http://www.int-res.com/abstracts/meps/v333/p291-302/

Diving behavior of sperm whales in relation to behavior of a major prey species, the jumbo squid, in the Gulf of California, Mexico

R. W. Davis^1,*, N. Jaquet², D. Gendron³, U. Markaida⁴, G. Bazzino⁵, W. Gilly⁶

¹Texas A&M University, 5007 Avenue U, Galveston, Texas 77551, USA
²Center for Coastal Studies, 115 Bradford Street, Provincetown, Massachusetts 02657, USA
³Centro Interdisciplinario de Ciencias Marinas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CICIMAR-IPN), A. P. 592, La Paz, Baja California Sur 23000, Mexico
⁴Departamento de Aprovechamiento y Manejo de Recursos Acuáticos, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Calle 10 No. 246, Col. Centro, 24000 Campeche, Mexico
⁵Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste (CIBNOR), Mar Bermejo No. 195, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, A. P. 592, La Paz, Baja California Sur 23000, Mexico
⁶Hopkins Marine Station, Oceanview Boulevard, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, California 93950, USA

*Email: davisr@tamug.edu

ABSTRACT: Sperm whales occur worldwide and feed largely on meso- and bathypelagic squid, but little is known about the behavioral ecology of this predator and its prey. In the Gulf of California, sperm whales are thought to feed on the abundant jumbo (Humboldt) squid, an ecologically and commercially important species. In this study, we attached satellite-linked dive recorders to 5 sperm whales and pop-up archival transmitting tags to 3 jumbo squid in the same area and time period in order to record their diving behavior and movements. Most (91%) deep dives by whales ranged from 100 to 500 m (average 418 ± 216.0 m) and lasted 15 to 35 min (average 27 ± 9.1 min). During daytime hours, jumbo squid spent about 75% of the time in the 200 to 400 m depth range, and sperm whales showed a similar dive-depth preference. The vertical distribution pattern of squid changed during the night, with squid spending about half the time at depths of <200>

KEY WORDS: Physeter macrocephalus · Dosidicus gigas · Diving behavior · Satellite telemeters · Movements · Predator · Prey · Gulf of California

Are Belugas Collateral Damage?

2006-12-19T21:19:00.000-05:00

http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/050/documents/18338/18338E.pdf - large 249-page document.

The government report on the Cacouna liquid natural gas (LNG) harbor and terminal project and its effects on Belugas of the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, Canada.

According to some ecologists, the report portrays the Belugas as acceptable collateral damage.
http://www.whales-online.net/eng/FSC.html?sct=3&pag=3-1-1.html

I'll have to read the report. It mentions the word "Beluga" 23 times. It's 249 pages.

Important for Whales and Dolphins, among others

2006-12-19T20:49:00.000-05:00

From http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/ :

The president of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science, Gilbert S. Omenn, touched on this point recently
in a wide-ranging address published in Science Magazine:

"Science works best in a culture that welcomes challenges to
prevailing ideas and nurtures the potential of all of its
people. Scientific ways of thinking and of re-evaluating one's
views in light of new evidence help strengthen a democracy."

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/314/5806/1696

Chapter 16 - Sociality and ecology of the odontocetes

2006-12-17T19:01:00.000-05:00

Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates: Ecology of the Two Sexes
Edited by Kathreen Ruckstuhl and Peter Neuhaus
Cambridge University Press, January 2006 | 500 pages | 247 x 174 mm

Overview: An understanding of sexual segregation is important in the explanation of life history and social preference, population dynamics and the conservation of rare species. This book explores the reasons why this behaviour has evolved and what factors contribute to it. Chapters provide a synthesis on many different vertebrate groups. This is the first synthesis, to our knowledge, on sexual segregation. Highlights important implications for conservation.

Chapter 16 - Sociality and ecology of the odontocetes, Robert Michaud, Scientific director, Groupe de recherche et d'éducation sur les mammiferes marins, Tadoussac, Québec, CANADA

Earthtrust dolphin research projects, 2001

2006-12-09T16:14:00.000-05:00

http://www.earthtrust.org/delphis.html

The 2001 system by Dr Ken Marten includes a whistle recognizer system: http://www.cyrus.org/lilly/touchscreen00.html

http://www.cyrus.org/lilly/delphis01.html

Dr Marten's system uses software by Antoine Schmitt:
http://www.as-ci.net/asFFTXtra/index.html

Was this system ever used with dolphins? I don't recall reading anything about it's use, so it probably hasn't been used and it may not be completed or it may be unsatisfactory (inadequate design or implementation).

Dolphin Assisted Therapy - DAT

2006-12-09T15:38:00.000-05:00

http://www.linknet.com.au/dolphin/DAT2.html - contains a list of such organizations

home page of the CSI: http://linknet.com.au/dolphin/

William Rossiter
"Activist, Researcher, Photographer. President, Cetacean Society International" (CSI)

advisory board members, past and present

2007 is the Year of the Dolphins

2006-12-09T10:05:00.000-05:00

"The UN Convention on Migratory Species, together with its specialized agreements on dolphin conservation ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society WDCS have declared 2007 the Year of the Dolphin."

http://www.yod2007.org/

The species guide pages will be very useful when completed:
http://www.yod2007.org/en/World_of_dolphins/Species_guide/index.html

The TUI Group is a major supporter of this initiative and appears to be hosting their web site. TUI appears to be a large German-based conglomerate:
http://www.tui-group.com/en/ir/corporate_governance/supervisory_board/

TUI was called Preussag until 2002; sstarted as a tourism company and still has a substantial portion of its capital invested in tourism. TUI is diversifying its capital investments yet TUI's tourism activities are still significant, as described on their web site: "... around 79 tour operators throughout Europe handling 18 million customers a year. In addition, the Group has 3500 travel agencies, 37 incoming agencies, seven airlines with more than 100 aircraft (sic), and more than 290 hotels with a total capacity of around 163,000 beds."

TUI states that the environment is the capital of tourism. They appear to have decided to spend on environmental protection and they support conservation organisations such as Sociedad EspaÃÂ±ola de CetÃÂ¡ceos (Tenerife) cetaceos.com which is involved in whale watching with M.E.E.R. e.V. (La Gomera and Tenerife) which is based in Berlin: www.m-e-e-r.de:
http://www.tui-group.com/en/konzern/tui_umweltmanagement/umw_dest/biodiv/whale.html

TUI recently acquired CP Ships which was originally part of CP Rail, a historical Canadian company.

From the m-e-e-r.de web site, I arrived at this very interesting links page: http://www.oceania.org.au/wwwlinks/dedicated.html

Tyack's Google

2006-12-04T18:18:00.000-05:00

http://preview.tinyurl.com/ycglrb

Echolocation Clicks

2006-12-04T18:03:00.000-05:00

The abstract is online: http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/abstract/209/24/5038

Foraging Blainville's beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) produce distinct click types matched to different phases of echolocation

M. Johnson¹^,*, P. T. Madsen¹^,2, W. M. X. Zimmer³, N. Aguilar de Soto⁴ and P. L. Tyack¹

¹ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
² Department of Zoophysiology, University of Aarhus, Denmark
³ NATO Undersea Research Centre, V. le San Bartolomeo 400, 19126 La Spezia, Italy
⁴ Department of Animal Biology, La Laguna University, La Laguna 38206, Tenerife, Spain

^* Author for correspondence: majohnson@whoi.edu

Accepted 16 October 2006

Against the Killing of Whales, Against Whaling

2006-12-04T17:59:00.000-05:00

Blue Voice

update 2007.01.26: BBC news item - The UK is trying to make a move against whaling at the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The web page has good links of interest on whales and anti-whaling. And I agree with this statement:

There is no humane way to kill a whale at sea - David Attenborough

update 2007.02.04: I do not dare put this ugly photo on my blog, but this is why I blog
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Whaling_in_the_Faroe_Islands.jpg

The Yangtze dolphin may be extinct

2006-12-02T11:15:00.000-05:00

Aka. the Baiji, these fresh water dolphins only live in the Yangtze river, China's longest, and a 26-day, 1700-km (1,060-mile) hunt by experts failed to find any of the mammals.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061202/sc_nm/environment_china_dolphin_dc

Update: http://baiji.org/ - new web site to help in case there's still a chance.

The search found about 300 of another threatened species, the Yangtze finless porpoise, but this was less than expected.

Update: Opinion of the Christian Science Monitor, December 21, 2006, http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1221/p08s02-comv.html

New Ship Routes In Cape Cod Area to Protect Right Whales

2006-11-30T18:56:00.000-05:00

Zoom-in on the area around Cape Cod using the viewer:

http://ocs-spatial.ncd.noaa.gov/encdirect/viewer.htm - works in IE but not in Firefox.

WASHINGTON, DC, November 27, 2006 (ENS)

The routes can be found on updated electronic versions of the Massachusetts Bay nautical charts that can be downloaded at http://www.noaa.gov/charts.html.

Good job, NOAA.

Kasatka, a Captive Orca, Gets Angry at Trainer During Multimedia Extravaganza

2006-11-30T17:46:00.000-05:00

Photo credits: AP - Associated Press

http://tinyurl.com/ylq62g

http://preview.tinyurl.com/v3mrl

Kasatka is at SeaWorld San Diego.

If it wasn't something personal between the two of them, the trainer and Kasatka, which is quite possible based on my experience, then it may be that:

1. the orca was tired and/or sick, or

2. the orca did not like the show, either the loudness or the quality of the music/acoustics, e.g., it may have contained acoustic elements that are offending to orcas or to this orca.

And I'm not joking.

A more recent news article.

Here is an unverified list of altercations between captive cetaceans and trainers.

Update 2007.03.03:
California's workplace safety office recommends the killing of whales so save attacked trainers.

35 Types of Sound by Humpbacks Identified by Rebecca Dunlop et al.

2006-11-29T19:24:00.000-05:00

Researcher Rebecca Dunlop and her associates are from the University of Queensland in Australia. They monitored Humpback whales migrating along the east coast of Australia from breeding grounds inside the Great Barrier Reef to feeding grounds in the Antarctic.

The article.

TODO read the actual research paper and determine what their classification criteria were, i.e., what is meant by a *type of sound*.

Update 2007.03.03: Here's another news article from 2006 on Ms. Dunlop's team impressive research. This web page has a link to online Humpback sounds.

Update 2007.03.03: "Humpback songs are not like human language, but elements of language are seen in their songs," said Ryuji Suzuki, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) predoctoral fellow in neuroscience at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Here's a 2006 news article on his group's research. TODO read the original paper.

Update Jan. 2008: http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080109/CPSCIENCES/80109081/1020/CPSCIENCES

Humpback whales have spindle neurons

2006-11-27T19:17:00.000-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061127/sc_nm/whales_brains_dc

Researchers: Patrick Hof, Estel Van der Gucht, Department of Neuroscience, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.

These neurons are in areas comparable to locations where they are also found in humans and great apes.

Larger dolphins also have spindle neurons.

The roles of these neurons are not yet understood and still speculative.

How come the Japanese and Icelandic whale-hunting *researchers* haven't published this after dissecting hundreds of thousands of whales? It's because their so-called research is a farce.

Here's another news article on the subject.

Dolphin Mirror Experiment by Reiss and Marino, 2000

2006-11-26T09:47:00.000-05:00

The article in PNAS.

Three accompanying videos here. Must see.

Dr Lori Marino with a dolphin brain (Tt) (credit The New York Times/Bill Jelenko/WCS):

Dr Diana Reiss with Presley at the NY Acquarium (credit Bill Jelenko/WCS/NY Times):

Whale-Watching economic benefits

2006-11-24T18:23:00.000-05:00

The Saguenay—St. Lawrence Marine Park welcomed over one million visitors in 2005.

Tourism in the region generated 93 million $ in economic fallout in 2005.

Campaign to end dolphins slaughter in Japan

2006-11-21T18:09:00.000-05:00

Sign the online petition: http://www.theoceanproject.org/actfordolphins/

Dr Diana Reiss is a leader of the campaign.

List of scientists signees (an 8-page pdf)

http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=46710925180 - Sept. 20, 2006 - Gory photos.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15791885/ - Nov. 20, 2006

Digg it: http://digg.com/world_news/Petition_to_Stop_Annual_Dolphin_Hunt

Marine Acoustics Tutorials

2006-11-20T20:19:00.000-05:00

NOAA Acoustics Tutorial
Another NOAA Acoustics Tutorial
marinebio.org SoundsoftheSea
basic acoustics FAQ
www.oceanmammalinst.com they focus on the acoustic protection of marine mammals
4 songs online
Dr. Ken Balcomb's 2001 letter to the US Navy on military sonars dangers to cetaceans:
http://www.coreresearch.org/2003/sonar_and_cetaceans.htm
TODO more here
My Sound Pressure Level Analysis:

Sound Pressure Level = 20 x lg (p/0.00002) dB

Reference sound pressure (in air) = 0.00002 = 2E-5 Pa (rms) = 20 microPa

reference sound pressure (in water) = 0.000001 = 1E-6 Pa

root-mean-square: The RMS voltage of a signal is computed by squaring the instantaneous voltage, integrating over the desired time, and taking the square root.

//p in rms = sqrt(sum(v[i]^2)/n)
//v = array of 1024 voltage samples from a-to-d converter
sum = 0;
for(volt v : volts){
sum += (v*v);
}
p = sqrt(sum/volts.length);

Online underwater cetacean sounds recordings

2006-11-20T19:57:00.000-05:00

NOAA's Blue Whale and other Cetaceans sounds includes spectrograms, USA.
Cachalots from Cetacean Research, USA
Nice page of recordings by Cetacean Research, including 52 seconds of the US Navy mid range sonar, Humpbacks, and Orcas, USA
Orca from Dr Val Veirs et al., USA
Humpbacks near Hawaii, USA, by Peter Tyack, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
www.whalesong.net Humpback song
http://neptune.atlantis-intl.com/dolphins/sounds.html - 9 mp3 files
http://www.whaleresearch.com/thecenter/orcaAudio.html - 4 files
From Russia - slow connection or slow server
TODO more here

Lone Cetaceans Visiting People

2006-11-19T19:57:00.000-05:00

There are and has been a few single cetaceans that seem to appreciate close proximity to people.

Poco was one of them, near Boston, circa 2004. Photo credit: Ken Ekstrom, 2004

Marine Mammal Science (MMS) online library

2006-11-18T15:52:00.000-05:00

Cetacea Marine Mammal Science, A major online library of research papers on marine mammals.

Users of the Papyrus Bibliography System (for Mac and DOS/Windows, and now free) can download the abstracts and contact information from http://www.cetacea.de/mms.

The Hierarchy Mechanism in Human Cognition

2006-11-18T13:32:00.000-05:00

We as a species seem to have a very deep and strong cognitive mechanism that seems to be based on a hierarchy principle, i.e., a principle that determines which species or groups within our environment are superior to which one, and of course usually with the view that our own species or group is the most superior one. Let's call this apparent behavior/cognition mechanism the Hierarchy Mechanism.

This seems to be a major part of our cognitive and behavior process. It seems to affect much of our thinking and actions. This mechanism seems to be innocuous most of the time but it becomes quite apparent when it appears to be challenged, i.e., in the context of ideas and behavior that contradict its underlying hypothesis. The underlying hypothesis apparently at play here is the one that asserts that our species is the superior one.

The vast majority of human individuals of all cultures and all degrees of education behave in ways to suggest that they are driven by this underlying hypothesis.

A few human individuals are aware of it and have reversed it. These people are generally able to think and act without being limited by this apparently evolutionary primitive cognitive mechanism of hierarchy or superiority.

For scientists studying evolved life forms such as sharks and whales, as opposed to worms or molecules, the lack of control or lack of reversal of the Hierarchy Mechanism in one's cognition will eventually limit the quality of the work by these scientists because it will limit the type of ideas that are deemed to have value. This is probably why so few scientists are studying animal cognition and communication today, despite a large body of work showing a great potential for scientific discoveries in these fields.

For example, how come it takes a Dr Diana Reiss to do the mirror experiment with elephants when she is the one who conducted a similar experiment with dolphins many years ago. How come no one else or very few have done similar experiments?

How come no other scientist than Dr J. C. Lilly has published results to advance Dr Batteau's work on dolphin communication since the 1960's? I could also mention that I estimate that Dr Lilly has been rejected and cast out by most of the scientific community, despite having produced some ground breaking scientific results.

Where are the recent ground breaking works on primate cognition that could advance those that we saw in the 1970s?

I propose the hypothesis that scientific work in the areas of animal cognition is being hampered by the presence of the Hierarchy Mechanism is our own species and by the lack of reversal of this mechanism in individual scientists and in people manning the science funding structures today.

I propose the related hypothesis that the Hierarchy Mechanism is one of the main sources of ideologies that negate science (e.g., anti-evolution) and ideologies that are causing large groups of people in engaging in wars and also causing many individuals in manipulating these large groups that actually want to wage war, including killing and getting killed. This hypothesis effectively proposes that the Hierarchy Mechanism is one of the main causes of human social problems today.

Whales Sounds as Visual Art by Mark Fischer

2006-11-16T21:18:00.000-05:00

Mark Fischer turns DSP of whales sounds into art - literally

and the NY Times likes it.

More images here. Must see.

Nice DSP Analysis of Orca Vocalization at MIT

2006-11-16T20:52:00.000-05:00

http://web.media.mit.edu/~brown/

File DTWtalk.ppt is my fav. It's a 10 MB file with sounds. The analysis is very close to the technique used by Seadragon, and Seadragon does it in real-time.

DSP = Digital Signal Processing

Cuvier's beaked whale recorded at 1 899 m (6,230 ft)

2006-11-16T20:48:00.000-05:00

Research by the Woods Hole Institute. These deep dives and/or shallower dives may be why they are hurt by military sonar.

Some elephants are self-aware, like dolphins and apes

2006-11-16T20:43:00.000-05:00

CREDIT: COURTESY OF JOSHUA PLOTNIK, FRANS DE WAAL, AND DIANA REISS

Three videos. Must See.

Dr. Reiss did similar experiments with mirrors and dolphins, a few years ago. Dr. Reiss is a world leader in animal intelligence and communication research. Dr. Reiss is on the scientific board of Dr. Denise Herzing et al. Wild Dolphin Project, a collaborator of the free Seadragon software project for dolphin communication research.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061031/ap_on_sc/self_aware_elephant

Here's a similar experiment with mirrors and apes. Frans B. M. de Waal was a main researcher in both the elephants and apes mirror experiments. While Dr Reiss was a main researcher in both the elephants and dolphins mirror experiments. Dr Reiss' dolphins mirror experiment with Dr Lori Marino was probably the first of its kind to be recognized by mainstream science.

Science 3 November 2006:
Vol. 314. no. 5800, p. 735
DOI: 10.1126/science.314.5800.735d

Very few creatures have the cerebral wherewithal to recognize themselves in a mirror: humans, apes, dolphins, and now--elephants.

Joshua Plotnik, a psychology graduate student at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues put a jumbo-sized mirror in the elephant enclosure at New York City's Bronx Zoo and watched the reactions of three adult female Asian elephants. All showed signs of self-recognition: One, for example, used the tip of her trunk to explore her mouth in the mirror. Another passed the gold standard "mark test" for self-recognition, using her trunk to examine a white X painted on her forehead, the researchers reported online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Such self-awareness, says Plotnik, may be part of a more general ability to distinguish one's self from other individuals, which in turn may be needed for the altruistic behavior observed among elephants in the wild. The study "shows us that so many more species may be capable of these complex abilities if we figure out the right ways of asking the questions," says parrot-studier Irene Pepperberg, who teaches comparative psychology at Harvard University.

56 year old Orcas in the wild

2006-11-16T20:41:00.000-05:00

The Orcinus Orca Collective on the North American West Coast has recently posted a photo of a 56-year old male Orca on their blog.

Whale-Watching

2006-11-16T20:31:00.000-05:00

http://www.bonjourquebec.com/qc-en/observationfaune0.html - St. Lawrence River, one of the few places where you can usually see some blue whales (summer-automn). There are also the local belugas all year round, the frequent and inquisitive minkes, the seis, humpbacks, porpoises, etc.

2006 map of whale-watching off Vancouver, Canada by Jeff Lorton, a member of the Orcinus Orca Collective.

5starwhales.blogspot.com - Jeff Lorton's blog whale-watching Orcas near British Columbia, Canada

www.outforadventure.com/orca_adventure.htm - Orcas, British Columbia, Canada

www.stubbs-island.com - Telegraph Cove, BC, Canada

www.tundrabuggy.com - Belugas in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada - I've been there, seen these whales, great adventure, highly recommended but maybe a little too adventurous for some.

Another belugas watching operator in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. The images are worth a visit. Belugas like the first time that I saw them. You can also snorkel with belugas from the Lazy Bear Lodge.

Qoddy Link Marine, St. Andrews by-the-Sea, Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Eastern Canada. They also have a boat service for research.

WDCS recommandations for whale-watching, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).

WDCS brochure of whale-watching operations around the world.

This WDCS whale-watching operation in Scotland offers research activities, includes acoustic analysis. I hope that they will use the Seadragon software soon.

December 2006, Caribbean whale watching organisations, with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), start CARIBwhale. Andrew Armour, of Dominica, is the newly elected President: "In addition to promoting responsible whale watching we will also support non-invasive scientific research, as well as educational programmes, community involvement, and advocacy." http://tinyurl. com/y4psr3

www.helsinki.fi/~lauhakan/whale - list of links, some links may be defunk.

www.whalewatchinginfo.com

www.m-e-e-r.org - La Gomera, Eastern Atlantic Ocean.

www.orcaweb.org.uk

www.alternative-hawaii.com/whales.htm

www.dolphinsakaroa.co.nz - swim with wild dolphins around New Zealand

list of boat cruises in New Zealand

TODO more here

Research that support Seadragon software

2006-11-15T18:05:00.000-05:00

These research results do support the basis for the free Seadragon software. They show that Seadragon is based on hypotheses that may provide some advance in research.

Whistle Matching in Wild Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Vincent M. Janik, Science 25 August 2000: 1355, DOI: 10.1126/science.289.5483.1355. Abstract:
Dolphin communication is suspected to be complex, on the basis of their call repertoires, cognitive abilities, and ability to modify signals through vocal learning. Because of the difficulties involved in observing and recording individual cetaceans, very little is known about how they use their calls. This report shows that wild, unrestrained bottlenose dolphins use their learned whistles in matching interactions, in which an individual responds to a whistle of a conspecific by emitting the same whistle type. Vocal matching occurred over distances of up to 580 meters and is indicative of animals addressing each other individually.
School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, Bute Building, Fife KY16 9TS, UK, and Lighthouse Field Station, Aberdeen University, Cromarty, Ross-shire IV11 8YJ, UK. Present address: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Biology Department, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
This research from 2005 shows that dolphins are capable of recognizing rhythms and pitch and are able to reproduce them on demand.
2006 paper on vocal learning by Orcas in the wild, off the West Coast of North America. Paper published online (as a pdf), by Andrew D. Foote, Rachael M. Griffin, David Howitt, Lisa Larsson, Patrick J. O. Miller, and A. Rus Hoelzel.
Dynamic time warping for automatic classification of killer whale vocalizations. The PDF file and the PowerPoint file (10 MB). Judy Brown, Professor of Physics, Wellesley College, and Visiting Scientist, Music, Mind, and Machine Group at MIT Media Lab. http://web.media.mit.edu/~brown/ The PowerPoint file DTWtalk.ppt is my fav. It comes with sounds.
Dr Lusseau: Dolphins use non-vocal signals - the pdf file in this page.
New podcasting site for dolphin science by Dr Kathleen Dudzinski director of the Dolphin Communication Project, Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration, USA. The podcasts involve big names in dolphin science.
Lou Herman et al, Hawaii: trained dolphins to learn an artificial grammar of commands using visual signals. One-way, visual, communication. They are missing the interactive aspects and the audio which would allow the dolphins to make demands and make modifications to the signals. Seadragon was designed to support audio interactions and therefore more dolphins involvement.
James W. Fitzgerald used morse code-like signals to communicate with dolphins:
Dr. J. C. Lilly's work from the 1950's to 1970's.
Dr. Batteau's work in the 1960's. Dwight W. Batteau and Peter R. Markey: Man/Dolphin Communication, Final Report: 15 December 1966-13 December 1967. Prepared for U.S. Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, California, Contract No. N00123-67-C-1103. Arlington, Massachusetts: Listening, Incorporated, 1967. Appendix A, Technical Manual MSA-2. Appendix B, Technical Manual MDT-5
TODO more here

Sakhalin II offshore oil and gas and Grey Whales

2006-11-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) convenes a new independent scientific advisory panel to monitor the impact of the Sakhalin II offshore oil and gas development on critically endangered Western Gray Whale population

21st Conference of the European Cetacean Society, 2007

2006-11-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

The 21st Annual Conference of the European Cetacean Society will take place in Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain, from April 23rd – 25th, 2007, and will be hosted by AZTI-Tecnalia.

Global Vision Int'l studying dolphins off Kenya

2006-11-14T20:08:00.000-05:00

Global Vision International (GVI) is setting up a base to conduct research on dolphins off the coast of Kenya.

TODO: read up on GVI.

Manatees in the news

2006-11-12T12:38:00.000-05:00

A Nov. 2006 news article on Manatees research at Mote Lab. This article is disappointing. At least there is a relevant photo.

Captivity

2006-11-12T10:29:00.000-05:00

Dr Rose's important views on captivity in this Nov. 2006 article.

WDCS's review of scientific arguments for captivity.

4 young Belugas at Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, suburban Tokyo. (AFP/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

http://members.aol.com/orcainfo/ - Jerye Mooney's web site has a good collection of data.

Human whistle languages

2006-11-12T10:15:00.000-05:00

Human whistled languages demonstrate that we, Homo sapiens, have proved that whistles can be used for sophisticated communication.

Wikipedia has a nice page on human whistled languages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistled_language - much texts and many links.

lemondesiffle: web site on research and preservation of whistled languages; much to read.

Strandings

2006-11-12T09:54:00.000-05:00

Cetacean strandings in general seem to have many causes. For some strandings, the cause or causes may be assumed to be known to us, but in many cases the causes are still baffling.

Here are some recent cases:

New Zealand November 2006 - Part 2

New Zealand November 2006 - Part 1

December 2006: A Bryde's whale on a Malaysian beach, it tried twice in two days, appeared to have wanted to die on that beach and appeared to have been in poor health shortly before dying:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061218/ap_on_sc/malaysia_whale_death

first post on the whales and dolphins blog

2006-11-12T09:42:00.000-05:00

This blog is to make it easier to post on issues not directly related to the Seadragon software which now is the main subject of leafyseadragon.blogspot.com.

This blog is needed because if I were to post non-Seadragon related posts on the leafyseadragon blog then this would make it probably too confusing for Seadragon users. This illustrates some of the ergonomic and technical issues of blogs.