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Sperm Whale Seismic
Study (SWSS)
Gyre Daily
Reports - June 24, 2005At approximately 06:00 local time this morning, acoustics heard
sperm whales clicking. The visual and acoustic teams both located
the animals, which eventually became a group of 7 whales. The group
included possibly two mother-yearling pairs and 3 juveniles. The
morning was plagued by squalls that prevented immediate launch of
the RHIBs and brought the visual team and gear off the flying bridge
several times. RHIB-1 was launched during one window about 10:00 and
RHIB-2 was launched about a half hour later during another. The rest
of the day was spent dodging squalls. Despite the weather, one
location-only S-tag was deployed on one of the mother whales, 3
biopsies were taken, and at least 2 photo-id pictures were taken.
The RHIBs were brought in and visuals went off effort about 16:00.
After surveying southeast for about 2.5 hours, acoustics picked up a
new group of about 6 whales, but they were lost when the ship had to
maneuver around a long line fishing vessel. As of 21:25 Local time,
acoustics was attempting to reacquire this group.
Our position at 21:25 local time is 27 11.706'N 93 38.477'W.
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