Beam Reach

Do you feel cognitive dissonance when seeing killer whales with this desert backdrop?  As a Pacific Northwesterner used to emerald shorelines and snow-capped volcanoes, I sure do.

Some day Beam Reach will visit the Vermillion Sea and listen in on this playful pod that recently interacted with an ecotour in Baja .

On July 2, 2008, Val Veirs presented some of the most exciting research results yet gathered by Beam Reach students and staff.  In a talk entitled “Spatial confirmation of vocal communication between a killer whale calf and its natal family” (Powerpoint link), Val presented an analysis (by Val, Jason, and Scott) of a sequence of […]

One of the grandest gestures we humans in Western Washington can make for endangered orcas and salmon is to finally remove the Elwha dams.  The result would be a wonderful experiment in salmon restoration, as well as sediment dynamics.
I remember thinking that the removal was just a couple years away when I lived in Port […]

It was just announced that the oldest southern resident killer whale is believed to have died this year. Lummi (K-7) lived to be about 98 years old and was last seen by Brad Hansen of NOAA/NWFSC on December 23rd. As the Center for Whale Research has surveyed all of K pod multiple times […]

I just read a story about a band that tours and amplifies under bicycle power alone. The technology they use could jump start an idea spawned during dinnertime discussions during past Beam Reach programs: mounting two bikes on the foredeck for power generation and exercise during the sea component. A nice twist would […]

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I’ve asked a lot of people why the southern resident killer whales spend so much of their time swimming up and down the west side of San Juan Island. Most folks suggest that they’re here because the fish are here. Ask long-time population surveyor Ken Balcomb of the Center for Whale […]

Thanks to Lindsay Delp (081) who just sent me a Discovery Channel article about the fluid mechanical efficiency of cetacean fins and flukes. It turns out (ha!) that wind turbines can be made more efficient by roughening the leading edge of the blades. The idea was inspired by studying the bumpy fins of […]

Snug Harbor to Snug Harbor
This morning we learned one of Newton’s laws of motion, that an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. In this case the object was the wet mooring line and the outside force Lindsay’s face. Still giggling, we headed out of Snug Harbor and […]

One of the Beam Reach students, Ryan Spragg, captured this double breach on video today:

It’s a notable clip in part because we were towing 4 hydrophones at the time, one of which is calibrated and sensitive up to about 50kHz. Another student, Lindsay Delp, will use the recorded underwater sounds of the breaches to […]

Garrison Bay to Snug Harbor
After taking Jason to the dock for some well-deserved shore leave we transited to Snug Harbor and welcomed Dr. Robin Kodner.  Emerging into Haro Strait at a very low tide we headed south on advice from Jeanne and were surprised to find about 8 members of J pod (J2 matriline?) resting […]