Species and Call Types

Use the following species abbreviations and call type codes for all data analysis and data archive. Full species abbreviation table available here.

Species

Common Name Scientific Name SAEL Species PACM Species
Baird’s Beaked Whale Berardius bairdii BB (or Bb1) BWBB
Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus Bm BLWH
Bryde’s Whale Balaenoptera brydei Be BBWH
Cross Seamount beaked whales NA BWC BWC
Dall’s porpoise Phocoenoides dalli Pd DAPO
Dolphins Delphinidae sp. Includes Gg, Lo, and UO UNDO
Fin whale Balaenoptera physalus Bp FIWH
Gray whale Eschrichtius robustus Er GRWH
Goose-beaked whale (Cuvier’s) Ziphius cavirostris Zc GOBW
Harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena HAPO
Hubb’s beaked whale Mesoplodon carlhubbsi Mc BWMC
Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Mn HUWH
Kogia Kogia sp. Ks UNKO
Minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata Ba MIWH
NBHF - Kogia, Dall’s Porpoise, Harbor Porpoise NA NBHF NBHF
Orca Orcinus orca Oo OOWH
Pacific white-sided dolphin Lagenorhynchus obliquidens Lo PWDO
Risso’s dolphin Grampus griseus Gg GRAM
Sei whale Balaenoptera borealis Bb (or B. Borealis) SEWH
Sperm Whale Physeter macrocephalus Pm SPWH
Stejneger’s beaked whale Mesoplodon stejnegeri Ms BWMS
Unidentified beaked whale 43 kHz NA BW43 BW43
Unidentified dolphin NA UO UNDO
Unidentified mesoplodon (beaked whale) Mesoplodon sp. BW UNME

Call Types

Species Call Type Name SAEL Call Code PACM Call Code PACM Call Description Notes
Beaked whale Beaked whale frequency modulated upsweep FMUS Beaked whale foraging clicks
Blue whale Blue whale A call A BLANEP NE Pacific blue whale A call
Blue whale Blue whale B call B BLBNEP NE Pacific blue whale B call
Blue whale Blue whale D call D BLDNEP NE Pacific blue whale D call
Blue whale Blue whale tonal call BLTonal BLTONNEP NE Pacific blue whale tonal call
Blue whale Blue whale downsweep call BLDS BLDSNEP NE Pacific blue whale downsweep call
Blue whale Blue whale mixed call BLMixed BLMIXNEP NE Pacific blue whale mixed calls (A, B, D, tonal, downsweep)
Fin whale Fin whale 20 Hz pulse 20Hz FW20HZ NE Pacific fin whale 20 Hz pulses
Fin whale Fin whale 40 Hz downsweep 40Hz FW40HZ NE Pacfic fin whale 40 Hz downsweeps
Gray whale Gray whale unidentified Unidentified GWUND Unidentified NE Pacific gray whale calls
Humpback whale Humpback whale unidentified Unidentified HWUND Unidentified NE Pacific humpback whale calls (cannot distinguish social vs song)
Humpback whale Humpback whale social Social HWSOC Humpback whale social calls only
Humpback whale Humpback whale song Song HWSONG Humpback whale song only
Minke whale Minke whale boing Boing MWNEPBOING NE Pacific minke whale boing
NBHF NBHF NA NBHF All NBHF calls for kogia sp., dall’s porpoise, and harbor porpoise
Odontocete Odontocete impulsive click Clicks ODCLICK Dolphin clicks (either delphinid or blackfish)
Odontocete Odontocete whistle Whistles ODWHIS Dolphin whistles (either delphinid or blackfish)
Sei whale Sei whale 30-80Hz downsweep SWDS SWDS Sei whale downsweep spanning 80-30Hz, occurs as single downsweeps or repeated 3-5 seconds apart as doublets, triplets, or more.
Sperm whale Sperm whale usual click Clicks SPUSC Sperm whale foraging click
Sperm whale Sperm whale slow click Slow Clicks SPSLC Sperm whale social: slow clicks