Learn about Orcasound and the PTMSC hydrophones at Fort Worden State Park.
Since 2006, the Port Townsend Marine Science Center has hosted and maintained hydrophones at Fort Worden State Park as an organizational partner of Orcasound.
Two Labcore-40 hydrophones were first deployed by Eric McRae and Scott Veirs at a depth of about 7 meters. The hydrophones are located within Port Townsend Bay at the end of the pier where PTMSC has operated since 1982. The host site faces east and is a great location to hear the Southern Resident killer whales as they pass through Admiralty Inlet in search of salmon. This can happen any time of year, but is more common in the fall when coho and chum salmon return to Puget Sound rivers.
You will also hear ships bound for the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma, and the ferry that runs between Port Townsend and Whidbey Island. Occasionally, we’ve heard Bigg’s orcas and male harbor seals vocalize in the summer months.
Ongoing maintenance and replacement of the LabCore hydrophones has been coordinated by PTMSC staff and implemented largely by dedicated volunteers.
Thank you to Eric, Jon, Darryl, Hilary, Betsy, and many more!
In 2009, an outdoor stereo speaker system with NOAA-funded signage and a timer-switch was installed on the pier that allows visitors to experience binaural underwater listening while viewing the panoramic seascape, even after-hours. The system was installed by Beam Reach (Val and Scott Veirs) and has been expertly maintained and improved by volunteers Darryl Hrenko and Eric Mcrae.
A 2023 hydrophone upgrade was funded by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife through The Department of Ecology’s Equipment Grant program to improve location detection of Southern Resident Killer Whales and other marine mammals during oil spills (SPPREG-2123-WaSDFW-00025).
Today, you can listen to the network of hydrophones any time via orcasound.net. Subscribe for updates and get notified when Orcasound detects interesting underwater sounds. As an Orcasound community scientist, you can listen for whales and report what you hear, contributing to a growing dataset on orcas in the Salish Sea.
Orcasound maintains a library of recordings that you can use to learn about ocean sounds. With a little practice, you’ll be able to recognize many common sounds, including biological signals, other natural sounds (like wind and waves), and noise made by humans.
Eric McRae’s presentation covers the basics of sound creation, propagation and perception, both in air and in water. You’ll learn how we hear, the role of sound in how bats and Orca locate their food, and some peculiar characteristics of sound that are often experienced but rarely understood. Finally, there will also be a discussion about those noisy ships and jets. You will gain an understanding about sound that you can use in your daily life and a better appreciation for the acoustic environment in which we and our undersea neighbors live.
