Spatiotemporal Variability of Fin Whale and Blue Whale Calls Detected by Land Seismometers Along the Lower St. Lawrence Seaway

Authors

  • Eva Goblot Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  • Yajing Liu Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
  • Alexandre Plourde Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada Atlantic, Dartmouth, Canada
  • Pierre Cauchy Institut des sciences de la mer (ISMER), Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), Rimouski, Canada
  • Jeanne Mérindol University of Quebec at Rimouski UQAR , Rimouski, Canada
  • Coralie Bernier University of Quebec at Rimouski UQAR , Rimouski, Canada
  • Ge Li Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, Montreal, Canada
  • Basile Roth Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute, Montreal, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26443/seismica.v3i2.1153

Keywords:

environmental seismology

Abstract

The Lower St. Lawrence Seaway (LSLS) is critical to Canada’s economy both as part of a major marine shipping corridor and a site of intensive fishing. Every year, fin whales and blue whales frequent the LSLS feeding ground. Understanding the mechanisms driving whale habitat usage is key for making informed decisions on shipping and fishing, reducing whale collision risks and mitigating noise pollution. We detect whales in the LSLS with land seismometers by using a method that relies on the intervals of the regularly repeating low frequency calls. The resulting catalogue contains 14,076 fin whale detections and 3,739 blue whale detections between February 2020 and January 2022. These detections follow the overall pattern of hydrophones, with most detections from fall to early winter in the Estuary and until mid-winter/spring in the Gulf. High detection rates in the Northwest Gulf throughout the winter months demonstrate that this region is potentially utilized year-round. This labelled catalogue may be suitable for developing a deep learning-based whale call detection algorithm. Making use of seismometers and deep learning can increase whale monitoring coverage within the LSLS and elsewhere.

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2024-09-16

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Goblot, E., Liu, Y., Plourde, A., Cauchy, P., Mérindol, J., Bernier, C., Li, G., & Roth, B. (2024). Spatiotemporal Variability of Fin Whale and Blue Whale Calls Detected by Land Seismometers Along the Lower St. Lawrence Seaway. Seismica, 3(2). https://doi.org/10.26443/seismica.v3i2.1153

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Vol. 3 No. 2 (2024)

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Copyright (c) 2024 Eva Goblot, Yajing Liu, Alexandre Plourde, Pierre Cauchy, Jeanne Mérindol, Coralie Bernier, Ge Li, Basile Roth

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