PhD FIELDWORK WITH GENTLE GIANTS
As part of my PhD project through the University of Iceland’s Husavik Research Centre, and in collaboration with Gentle Giants, I have been using our trusty sea-angling boat Aþena to conduct some fieldwork this summer. Myself, interns at the research centre, and a GG captain would head out on our research trips often later in the evening, when there is less traffic out in the bay, in beautiful sea conditions. During the trips, I was tracking humpback whales and recording their behaviour while putting an acoustic “pinger” in the water. These pingers are designed to attach to fishing gear and make a sound in the hearing range of humpback whales. The sound aims to warn the whales about the gear, in hopes of reducing the instances of whales swimming through it, and possibly becoming entangled. We had amazing experiences during the research trips, with lunge-feeding whales right beside the boat, and incredible midnight sunlight. The next step now is to work on analyzing all the data we took out in the bay and hopefully aid in determining if these pingers will be helpful for both the whales and the fishermen in Iceland!
-Charla
Researcher/Guide
A lunge-feeding humpback whale during a research trip.
One of the whale pingers being tested.
