Sperm Whale Seismic Study in the Gulf of Mexico, Annual Report:  Year 1
OCS Study MMS 2003-069

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, announces the availability of a new study report, Sperm Whale Seismic Study in the Gulf of Mexico, Annual Report:  Year 1.

The Sperm Whale Seismic Study (SWSS) is a 3-year field study conducted under a Cooperative Agreement through the Texas A&M Research Foundation with additional cooperation and funding support from the Office of Naval Research, an industry coalition of oil and seismic companies, and (beginning in Year 2) the National Science Foundation.  This document reports on 2002 field work – two cruises (June 19–July 9 and August 19–September 15) - conducted in the northern Gulf of Mexico with objectives to (1) establish the normal behavior of sperm whales in this area, (2) characterize their habitat use, and (3) determine possible changes in the behavior of sperm whales when subjected to manmade noise, in particular, seismic air-gun arrays.

As an interim report, most of the information is concerned with methods and field measurements accomplished during the first year.  A final report for SWSS studies is scheduled for late spring 2005.  Included in this report are synopses of SWSS presentations from the January 16-17, 2003, Information Transfer Meeting sponsored by the MMS.  Of particular note is the successful tagging of 19 sperm whales with satellite tags and two controlled exposure experiments where sperm whales with digital tags (recording movement and received sound levels) were exposed to an air-gun source.  Other topics reported on include major physical oceanographic features during the cruises, photo-ID efforts, DNA analyses, passive acoustic experiments, and D-tag results on baseline diving and vocalizations.

This report is available only in compact disc format.  The discs are available from the Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, at a charge of $15.00 by referencing OCS Study MMS 2003-069.  The report may be ordered through the Minerals Management Service’s on-line ordering system at:  http://www.gomr.mms.gov/WebStore/front.asp.  You will be able to obtain this report also from the National Technical Information Service in the near future.  Here are the addresses.  You may also inspect copies at selected Federal Depository Libraries.