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Even after so many years of doing field work, sometimes you are still left amazed. Because every now and then the stars all align, and everything works out exactly as you hoped it would. Today was one of those times, because we found that needle in the haystack.
Around 3:45 this afternoon, while listening to a group of very chatty killer whales and some walrus, I heard a faint upsweep, and then one more. Not wanting to get my hopes up, since it could easily have been a humpback whale, I waited, until finally I heard it. The faintest gunshot call – so quiet I almost missed it. I certainly wasn’t expecting any right whale calls; we were about 55 miles east of their critical habitat inside Bristol Bay, and hadn’t even transited through the habitat yet.
Because the calls were faint, it was difficult to get accurate localizations, so the resulting distance estimations ranged from 10 miles to 32 miles, although the direction was relatively consistent. But, because the weather was cooperating and visibility was good, we decided to try our luck.
The next few hours were frustrating, as the whale stopped vocalizing, the few calls I got were giving me conflicting bearings, and we were surrounded by minke whales and humpbacks.
Continue reading at NOAA.
Photo via NOAA.
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