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Diego. Soon, Bill was offered a job working as an oceanogra- pher for the Naval Electronics Laboratory on Point Loma in San Diego. Working at the Navy laboratory, Bill was among the earliest to describe the calls of blue whales, gray whales, right whales, Bryde’s whales, and finback whales. Much of this work was published in JASA. Bill served as chief scien- tist for expeditions aboard the 95-foot sailing yawl Saluda,
an especially quiet platform for recording bioacoustics. In 1969, Bill made dives in the submersible Deep Star with Dr. Richard Rosenblatt of Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The purpose of these dives was to prepare for bottom acoustic monitoring of marine life for the SEA-LAB III site off San Clemente Island, California. At Point Loma, Bill advanced to head of the Applied Bioacoustics Branch at the Naval Ocean Systems Center where he conducted numerous projects throughout the Pacific from 1967-1977.
In 1977, Bill moved on to become chief curator for the San Diego Natural History Museum where he supervised 26 research scientists and expanded research activities for all scientific departments at the museum. Bill led research voy- ages to remote locations from Chile to the Arctic Circle in the Pacific, the North and South Atlantic Ocean, and throughout the Caribbean, Scotia, Weddell, Bering, Chukchi, Beau-
fort, Okhotsk, Philippine, East China, and Japan seas. Bill participated in 36 oceanographic cruises, was awarded four U.S. patents for the design and development of underwater acoustic communication devices, and published more than 75 scientific papers. Overall, Bill’s work filled numerous data gaps in the field of bioacoustics and aided in the conservation of marine resources.
Bill continued his work through various setbacks including the death of his beloved wife Joan from cancer in 1994 and injuries from a later hunting accident which left 50 shotgun pellets from another’s gun deeply imbedded throughout his body. Bill remained active as an ASA member at large and within the San Diego community throughout his later life. He enjoyed photography, sailing, woodworking, exploring his family genealogy, and especially fishing with friends. He regaled his friends and family with stories of previous expedi- tions, associates and adventures, interspersed with a hearty belly laugh that could only make one smile. Bill’s life and stories are carried on by his brother Bob, two sons Phillip and Mark, daughter-in-law Theresa, and five grandchildren and great-grandchildren. – Scott Aalbers and Sam H. Ridgway
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