A disproportion in bowhead whale call counts around an acoustic array during the fall 2012 migration in the Chukchi Sea, Alaska: An investigation into the potential of acoustic masking

A long-term passive acoustic study in the Chukchi Sea monitors the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) migration between their summering and wintering grounds in the Beaufort and Bering Seas, respectively. A hexagonal array offshore from Point Lay, AK was located near the center of their migratory corridor in the falls of 2009 through 2011. In 2012 however, there was a large difference in the number of acoustic detections across the array, with...