Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Developing An Acoustic Method For Reducing North Atlantic Right Whale (Eubalaena Glacialis) Ship Strike Mortality Along The United States Eastern Seaboard, Kaitlyn Allen Mullen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) are among the world’s most endangered cetaceans. Although protected from commercial whaling since 1949, North Atlantic right whales exhibit little to no population growth. Ship strike mortality is the leading known cause of North Atlantic right whale mortality. North Atlantic right whales exhibit developed auditory systems, and vocalize in the frequency range that dominates ship acoustic signatures. With no behavioral audiogram published, current literature assumes these whales should be able to acoustically detect signals in the same frequencies they vocalize. Recorded ship acoustic signatures occur at intensities that are similar or higher to those …