Lime Kiln Live Hydrophone
Listen Live to the Underwater World of the Salish Sea
SMRU Consulting North America and The Whale Museum have combined efforts to continue to provide public access to the live hydrophone at Lime Kiln. This site is part of The Whale Museum’s Sea Sound Remote Sensing Network.
What will you hear? Use the audio tools below to listen to the live stream:
About the Project
In March 2016, SMRU Consulting North America, in partnership with The Whale Museum upgraded the hydrophone node at the lighthouse in Lime Kiln Point State Park on the west side of San Juan Island. Operations Manager Dr. Jason Wood is the lead Senior Research Scientist on this project, he also leads the deployment and ongoing maintenance of the Lime Kiln hydrophone node.
Lime Kiln Point State Park is also a whale-watch park. Throughout the year visitors come for the chance to watch Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW) as they swim along the shoreline. In an average year, around 200,000 people visit the park.
The lighthouse has provided a base for long-term killer whale research conducted through The Whale Museum. The live hydrophone stream is part of the museum’s Sea Sound Remote Sensing Network. It was made available to the public in 2007. SMRU Consulting North America have been collecting acoustic data at Lime Kiln since 2012.
Watch the hydrophone being installed off Lime Kiln Point State Park in March 2016.
Team Members
SMRU Consulting North America
Dr. Jason Wood
The Whale Museum
Alexis Morrigan
Sam Tabbutt
Lara Hsia
Research
SMRU Consulting is conducting long-term acoustic research on ambient noise levels and marine mammal presence and activity at the site. The Lime Kiln hydrophone will play an integral part in the upcoming Vancouver Fraser Port Authority led shipping slow down trial in Haro Strait August to October 2017. Learn more about the slow trial trial in our blog post here.
Outreach
The Whale Museum offers a multitude of exciting outreach and education experiences to visitors at the museum, at the lighthouse and online. To learn more about their Sea Sound Remote Sensing Project see: seasound.org
Shutterstock/ Monika Wieland Shields