The BRS field team was back out in the R/V Barber on Sunday, July 14 to deploy more satellite tags on goose-beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris) prior to our Controlled Exposure Experiment (CEE) trial with a Navy destroyer later this month.
Seas were lumpy at the beginning of the trip but settled down during the day. Around 10:00 AM we came across a solitary Bryde’s whale (Balaenoptera edeni) apparently feeding well offshore; this is the first time we have seen this species off Cape Hatteras.
By the afternoon, and much to our relief, the sea state calmed down sufficiently, and we were able to deploy two satellite tags. We also re-sighted a whale we tagged in 2018. We had a previous confirmed sighting of this whale back in 2020, as well.
With two more tags deployed, we’ll be able to study the response of these whales to Continuous Active Sonar (CAS) signals and their groups during our CEE trial.
We also encountered a group of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) on our bow wave and some soaring black-capped petrels. We’ll keep you posted on the rest of the field season!
