On Friday, September 19th we conducted a Controlled Exposure Experiment (CEE) trial with goose-beaked whales Ziphius cavirostris in our study area off Cape Hatteras. Our focal whale was ZcTag161, an adult male equipped with a satellite-linked dive recorder on September 4th. The focal whale was accompanied by three other goose-beaked whales […]
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On Saturday, July 19th, we conducted a Controlled Exposure Trial with the USS Donald Cook, a Navy guided missile destroyer based in Mayport, Florida. The trial involved playing Continuous Active Sonar (CAS) signals from the destroyer to a constellation of eight satellite-tagged beaked whales off Cape Hatteras. We used real-time […]
We were very fortunate to have three good days of offshore weather off Cape Hatteras over this past weekend – some of the nicest conditions we have seen in a long time. Monday was particularly good, with mirror-like conditions for much of the morning. Days like this can be few […]
Field work for the 2025 Atlantic Behavioral Response Study (BRS) is underway. Our field team was on the water Saturday and Sunday, June 21-22, to deploy satellite-linked transmitters on goose-beaked whales Ziphius cavirostris. Our first scheduled Controlled Exposure Experiment (CEE) trial is a month away, so our task this weekend was […]
In February 2025, our team took the R/V Shearwater from North Carolina down to the waters offshore of Jacksonville, Florida to conduct vessel surveys and visual species-identification trials of marine mammal and sea turtle species in the Jacksonville Shallow Water Training Range (JSWTR). This baseline research and monitoring has been […]
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 […]
We’ve kicked off the field season for the 2024 Atlantic Behavioral Response Study (BRS)! On June 20th, our crew of five drove up to Manteo, NC with the R/V Barber, our 30’ research vessel, in tow. By first light the following day, we were headed out to sea with a […]
In a letter recently published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, we call on the marine mammal science community to discard the use of the English common name “Cuvier’s beaked whale” for Ziphius cavirostris. Instead, we recommend adoption of the alternative English common name for this species, the goose-beaked whale. We make this […]
The Read Lab was part of a successful disentanglement effort led by personnel from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission to remove Canadian lobster gear from adult male right whale Argo off Frying Pan Shoals in late January. Read the full story here.
On December 22, the U.S. Senate confirmed Andy’s appointment to the Marine Mammal Commission by unanimous consent. Andy joins his fellow nominee, Dr. Sue Moore, and Commission Chair Dr. Frances Gulland as the three Commissioners. See the news story here.