DFO marine mammal researcher Dr. Jack Lawson has been busy this season tracking a pod of elusive sperm whales in the Bonavista Bay area.
Lawson recently shared some amazing audio of sperm whales using echolocation to hunt for food deep within a marine canyon north of Eastport in late July.
On an amazingly calm day off northern Newfoundland in July, I dropped a hydrophone over the side to listen to the sperm whales hunting in the dark 450 m below us. Their world painted in sound reflections. pic.twitter.com/6IwqZoLqW9
— Dr. Jack Lawson (@drjwlawson) August 11, 2022
The sound was collected by dropping a hydrophone over the side of the research vessel. It captured the whales swimming an astonishing 450 metres below the surface.
Sperm whales are famous for their deep dives and typically feed on squid, octopus, rays, and sharks.
Lawson says each day they passed through the area they saw the same whales, identified by the scars on their bodies.
Some of the animals were satellite tagged and showed that the whales have remained in the area feeding for weeks. Lawson shared an image of one whale’s movements over the course of a single week showing the animal moving about in the water just off Salvage on the Eastport Peninsula.
