Two sperm whales fluke up to begin a feeding dive near the Texas A&M University research vessel GYRE during a 2002 cruise. Photo by Jonathan Gordon for the Sperm Whale Seismic Study (SWSS), under NMFS permit #821-1558. SWSS is funded by the US Minerals Management Service.

The Sperm Whale Seismic Study (SWSS) is sponsored by the U.S. Minerals Management Service and involves researchers from Texas A&M University, Oregon State University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Texas A&M University-Galveston, University of Durham, and Ecologic with support and cooperation from the Industry Research Funders Coalition (International Association of Geophysical Contractors (IAGC) and oil and gas companies), National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Science Foundation, and Office of Naval Research. The program will study sperm whales and their response to seismic exploration in the Gulf of Mexico.

SWSS 2006


MMS Outreach

Gulf of Mexico - Home to Whales and Dolphins ( PDF)
MMS Web Page on SWSS

Meetings

4th Joint Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America and the Acoustical Society of Japan

This ASA meeting is held in Honolulu, Hawaii 28-November through 2 December 2006
See http://asa.aip.org/honolulu/honolulu.html

MMS Information Transfer Meeting (ITM) 2007

MMS will be holding its 24th Information Transfer Meeting on 9-11 January 2007 at the Airport Hilton in Kenner, LA
See http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/regulate/environ/itm_2007.html. You will need to register to attend (no charge) at the web site.
SWSS presentations are scheduled for the afternoon of January 11, 2007

Reports

SWSS Summary Report 2002-2004 114MB pdf
SWSS Year 1 Annual Report 14MB pdf
SWSS Year 2 Annual Report 19MB pdf

STAG 2002 Cruise Report 0.5MB pdf
DTAG 2002 Cruise Report 22.0MB pdf

Survey and Habitat 2003 Cruise Report 6.5MB pdf
STAG 2003 Cruise Report 7.0MB pdf
DTAG 2003 Cruise Report 4.5MB pdf

STAG 2004 Cruise Report 5.5MB pdf
MPS 2004 Cruise Report 3.3MB pdf

STAG 2005 Cruise Report 8.2MB pdf
MPS 2005 Cruise Report 0.6MB pdf

SWSS Cruise Dates

STAG-2002 18-Jun to 09-Jul-2002 R/V Gyre 02G08
DTAG-2002 19-Aug to 15-Sep-2002 R/V Gyre 02G11
DTAG-2003 04-Jun to 24-Jul-2003 Maurice Ewing
S&HB-2003 31-May to 21-Jun-2003 R/V Gyre 03G06
STAG-2003 26-Jun to 16-Jul-2003 R/V Gyre 03G07
STAG-2004 25-May to 18-Jun-2004 R/V Gyre 04G05
MPS--2004 17-Jun to 12-Aug-2004 46-ft Sailboat "Summer Breeze"
STAG-2005 02-Jun to 30-Jun-2005 R/V Gyre 05G09
MPS--2005 12-Jun to 04-Aug-2005 46-ft Sailboat Summer Breeze

Archives (Web Pages From Previous Years)

SWSS 2002 Archives
SWSS 2003 Archives
SWSS 2004 Archives
SWSS 2005 Archives