Enabling simultaneous oceanographic and marine mammal surveys with autonomous ocean gliders
Abstract
The Navy sponsors research to improve efforts to mitigate interactions between fleet activities and marine mammals. A significant component of this effort is visual and acoustic surveys to characterize the occurrence and distribution of marine mammals over a variety of time and space scales. Scientists and engineers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) pioneered the use of autonomous ocean gliders for conducting mobile passive acoustic surveys during the mid-2000s. WIth investment from the Office of Naval Research (ONR), WHOI transitioned the technology from audio-recording-only applications to simultaneous audio recording and near real-time transmission of marine mammal acoustic detection information in 2012. The development of both instrumentation and applications for ocean gliders has increased substantially in recent years, and the introduction of an improved ONR-funded digital acoustic monitoring instrument (DMON2) will expand applications even further. Capable of collecting continuous long-term low- and high frequency recordings, ocean gliders equipped with DMON2 instruments will be able to conduct long (3-5 month) autonomous missions in regions of both scientific and military interest, surveying a wide variety of marine mammal species that produce low- (e.g. blue, fin, sei whales) and high-frequency (e.g. delphinids, beaked whales) calls. This is a significant advancement in marine mammal survey capabilities made possible by longer endurance ocean gliders and the advent of the low-power DMON2 instrument. This proposal seeks to purchase two Teledyne Webb Research Slocum gliders capable of measuring temperature, salinity, chlorophyll fluorescence, turbidity, acoustic backscatter at multiple frequencies, and marine mammal occurrence via passive acosutic monitoring. These gliders will be used in research projects proposed to the ONR Marine Mammals and Biology program that require the unique capabilities of long-endurance mobile autonomous platforms.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2017
- Source ID
- N000141712132
Entities
People
- Mark F. Baumgartner
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution