An overview of the AEROSE 2004 expedition may be found in this NOAA news release, and more detailed information at the AEROSE 2004 mission site. The research vessel for this expedition was the Ronald H. Brown, the largest of the NOAA vessels.

The best part was the Marine Mammal piggy-back project, of course. :~)

AEROSE and Marine Mammals – Project Goals

Frequency and abundance of cetaceans in the tropical Atlantic
Estimate species diversity of cetacean along the AEROSE Leg II track
Correlate cetacean occurrence with oceanic parameters (salinity, temperature, productivity, etc.)

AEROSE and Marine Mammals – sightings

AEROSE and Marine Mammals – So, where are they?

9 hours of observations per day and…

Sheer size of ocean and limited survey area (even with the 20x80 binocs!)

Actual observation area to be determined
Based on visibility and binocular range

Few marine mammals

Top of the food chain and
Low productivity area (oligotrophic waters)

Variable visibility

Swell, haze, dust, etc.

AEROSE and Marine Mammals – was it worth it?

Extensive data collection throughout a trans-Atlantic transect
Limited observations, but valid data
Excellent piggyback project since the density of cetaceans in the area is low
Follow up activities and future directions

Analyze the sightings for correlation(s) with the oceanographic data
Repeat the transect during different seasons
Repeat the transect with good visibility throughout (!)
Increase the number of observers to three
Improve transect using larger, tripod mounted binocs

Thanks to…

Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
The Marine Science Consortium (Wallops Island, VA)
AEROSE 04 for letting us tag along
The crew of RHB
All of our volunteer observers

Some clips of a sighting of a humpback whale are available below. Please note that the MPEG and AVI versions, although giving higher quality, are VERY LARGE! Unless you have a broadband connection (or lots of patience), you will want either the Windows Media (.wmv) or the RealPlayer (.rm) formats instead.

Windows Media (.wmv, ~1.5 MB)
RealPlayer (.rm, ~1.2 MB)
MPEG (.mpg, ~30 MB)
AVI (.avi, ~41 MB)

Here are some still images from the cruise. Click on the thumbnails for larger versions of the pictures.