Abstract
The synergistic use of large datasets from cabled array sensors and
remote sensing satellites is vastly under used for studying marine
mammals. An important element of assessing long standing shifts in
biodiversity within marine environments is to understand the
relationship between physical and biological oceanographic variables and
the occurrence of these keystone predators. The study area for this
project is the California Current Ecosystem, a dynamic and productive
coastal and offshore marine ecosystem within the Pacific Northwest
region of the United States. This complex environment is influenced by
the southward flowing California Current, seasonal changes in wind
intensity, and a narrow continental shelf paired with a steep
continental slope. A series of long-term, continuous data are collected
by the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) and includes physical and
biological sensors from fixed and mobile sensors, as well as passive
acoustic data from broadband hydrophones. We analyzed recordings
collected during 2017 from three recorders located on the shelf
(~80 m), slope (~580 m), and from a 200
m platform located above the base of the slope. Detections of sperm
whales, delphinid species, humpback whales and fin whales suggest the
region is a productive habitat. We combined acoustic derived marine
mammal observations with information from the OOI sensors and remotely
sensed chlorophyll data to describe ecosystem characteristics and
explore indirect measures of prey availability. Our findings provide
insight into regional biodiversity and associated physical and
biological characteristics in a dynamic region of the northwest Pacific
Ocean.