Interview: Sara Heimlich

by William Hanshumaker

After returning from Antarctica, I had the opportunity to interview Sara Heimlich. Her primary responsibility on this mission was to be the Marine Mammal Specialist.

Bill: Why was a marine mammal specialist part of the expedition?

Sara: The hydrophones we deployed will record sounds from 1Hz to 110Hz. This range includes the low-frequency vocalizations made by large whales- particularly blue whales. We also get sounds from fin, sperm, Sei and Bryde’s whales, but our regular hydrophones only record the lower end of their full range. Only one of the hydrophones we deployed is capable of recording higher frequencies up to 440 Hz. This should help us get recordings of the upper ranges of whale calls, and perhaps even sounds from marine mammal species we haven’t previously recorded. When we analyze the hydrophone data next year, it will be very important to learn what sounds might be from marine mammals that live or migrate through the study area. While there is some information from reports from other expeditions and ships, it was important to have a marine mammal specialist participate in this expedition so that we would have an exact documentation of the marine mammal species at the sites where we placed the hydrophones. When we analyze the data, we will have a much better idea of what sounds might be from what species we know for certain we saw while deploying the hydrophones.

Sara Heimlich

Bill: What did you learn from this mission?

Sara: This was my first opportunity to observe marine mammals and birds in the Antarctic. It was fantastic to see species that I have only read about, but even more wonderful to see species in the Antarctic that I have observed in so many other places in the world: like humpback whales which I had just seen in the tropical Pacific not much earlier in the year, and here they were in the cold southern waters only a couple of months later. Our data from the hydrophones will add to our understanding of whale movements and migrations of species like humpbacks and blue whales that move over vast distances. It will also give us some insight to sounds that might correspond to specific behaviors. I observed lunge-feeding Minke whales right in the area where we deployed the high-frequency hydrophone. This is really great because, since our regular hydrophones can only record the lower end of their vocalizations, we’ll finally have data which will let us describe more of their vocal range, both the extent of their sounds and what they might mean in terms of behavior. I also observed several pairs and trios of humpback whales and some other rorqual species in Drake Passage; throughout the couple of hours it took us to deploy the hydrophone we placed there. So, we are guaranteed to have recordings of at least three or four whale species, and probably different kinds of sounds that might correlate to large and small-scale behaviors.

Bill: What advice would you give to students who are interested in marine mammals?

Sara: This is a field that is evolving very quickly. It is important to understand the environment where marine mammals live. I strongly recommend focusing on oceanography or some other marine science program. You just can’t understand the animals unless you understand the complex world where they live. Technology is used in even the most basic observational studies, so I would also recommend developing a strong background in computer skills, math, and statistics, starting as early as high school if possible. I didn’t become seriously involved with marine mammal work until after I finished my undergraduate college degree in Art and Biology. I felt very handicapped and it was tough to make up the holes in my education during my Master’s work. Exposure to and development of some basic skills in the ‘hard core basic sciences’ early on (no matter how much of a struggle it seems) will provide an essential foundation,.

Bill: Where did you go to school?

Sara: My undergraduate degree is in Art and Biology from The Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington. I conducted all my graduate work at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories in California, earning my Master’s degree in Marine Sciences from the University of California at San Jose State. My Master’s thesis was on the social organization of killer whales, looking at long-term relationships within and between pods, and their matrilineal structure.

Bill: Why did you decide to study marine mammals, particularly cetaceans? How did you become an acoustician?

A pair of humpback whales

Sara: Seals, whales and dolphins have evolved unique and amazing adaptations for living in what is essentially an environment alien to the mammalian form. Whales and dolphins are especially fascinating in that they spend no time whatsoever on land, where all the rest of the mammalian orders live- even seals. I was always interested in animal behavior and evolution, and I was always drawn to the ocean. I have to admit that I grew up watching ‘Flipper’ which was probably an early influence. But, when I was in high school there were very few women in the marine sciences, so I didn’t even think about it as a serious option. During my undergraduate years, two male friends started working on a killer whale project in Puget Sound and I would visit them fairly regularly. I went to one of the first Marine Mammal Society meetings with them, where I met some of the few women who were successfully pursuing careers in marine mammal science; it was then I realized that this was a viable choice. My early work was looking at social organization and behavioral ecology. How cetaceans use sound acoustics was a natural progression from there. I have been with the Acoustics group of NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory’s VENTS program since 2001, working principally on the acoustic characteristics of cetacean vocalizations and secondarily on seismic activity.

Bill: What part of your job you like the most?

Sara: When I was younger, it was the fieldwork. Now it is analyzing data because it reveals such interesting results. Being at an academic institution lets me work on really innovative research that benefits our understanding of the ocean environment in a way that I couldn’t have done by myself. I have to agree with Haru Matsumoto: much of my satisfaction comes from being part of a team that is innovative, effective and consistently produces results.

Next: Bob Dziak Interview