In August, GCOOS Executive Director Dr. Jorge Brenner and Marine Mammal Biologist Megan Howson joined researchers in Veracruz, Mexico, to study sperm whales.

Manolo Fernandez and Dr. Isabel Hernandez with the Veracruz State University have been studying a potential summer aggregation of sperm whales along the shelf break off of Veracruz for several years. (Manolo’s data can be found on the CETACEAN Data Portal.) Along with Dr. Hernandez, two students from the university joined the trips.

The group sighted sperm whales on several days of the trip, resulting in great opportunities for data collection. Acoustic recordings collected throughout the week revealed sperm whales each day — even days where there were no sightings. These recordings will be processed by GCOOS in the hopes that they will reveal more details about this sperm whale population.

GCOOS Co-Data Manager Bob Currier will also use these recordings to help train GCOOS’s AI acoustic classifier. While the group was in the field, Currier was able to provide daily analysis of these files to help refine recordings — even while the field work was being conducted. Data from the trip will be made available on CETACEAN when processing is complete.

(Field work & data collection conducted by Universidad Veracruzana under SEMARNAT permit No. SBRA/DGVS/00545/25)