Today we tested acoustic equipment such as the sonobuoy pictured here, which records sound from an underwater microphone or hydrophone and broadcasts the signal back to the ship using radio. As usual, there are little glitches to work out, but most of the equipment is working very well. We were ready to look for whales in the afternoon. Weather was very calm -- excellent for visibility and tagging. The visual observers saw dolphins, but we did not find either of our prime candidates for tagging -- Cuvier's beaked whales or pilot whales.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Shakedown
Today we tested acoustic equipment such as the sonobuoy pictured here, which records sound from an underwater microphone or hydrophone and broadcasts the signal back to the ship using radio. As usual, there are little glitches to work out, but most of the equipment is working very well. We were ready to look for whales in the afternoon. Weather was very calm -- excellent for visibility and tagging. The visual observers saw dolphins, but we did not find either of our prime candidates for tagging -- Cuvier's beaked whales or pilot whales.
