Identification of Navy-relevant oceanographic hotspots guided by ethical practices and experiential learning
Abstract
The United States Navy#s position as one of the largest global maritime fleets and concurrent investment in the development and testing of sophisticated sonar technologies means negative interactions with marine wildlife are likely to occur. Identifying where marine organisms are most concentrated can reduce the frequency of negative Navy-wildlife interactions. Biological hotspots (areas of intense biological activity that promote feeding activity in higher trophic level species) have become an important monitoring tool for describing locations where certain species and environments are at greater risk. However, the research community lacks detailed information about the location of biological hotspots in the marine environment. Large marine vertebrates such as whales, seals, seabirds and sea turtles have been identified as ecosystem sentinels, or indicators of overall ecosystem processes and climate change impacts. Northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) are an ideal vesselfor detecting hotspots of biological activity in the ocean because they are fast, quiet, far-ranging, and deep diving. Our research group co-leads a long-term elephant seal monitoring program which contains the tools to review what is known about hotspots and to understand how hotspots vary across scales using drones, stable isotope analysis, and instruments attached to animals. The research program can facilitate valuable quantitative skills development for undergraduate students, highlight career opportunities in the DoD workforce, and train graduate students to facilitate a safe field environment for future scientists. The proposed work cannot take place without considering the ethics of animal handling and compensating young field researchers. Thus, we propose a holistic research program for conducting Navy-relevant research on biological hotspots grounded in ethical considerations and experiential learning. The characterization and subsequent avoidance of knownbiological hotspots pertaining to foraging, reproduction, migration, and multi-species aggregations of marine animals would be advantageous when planning Naval exercises. Avoiding these areas would not only reduce the direct impacts on the organisms, but also potential negative rippling effects to coastal communities dependent on ocean ecosystem services such as ecotourism and fisheries.Approved for public release
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 15, 2023
- Source ID
- N000142312527
Entities
People
- Roxanne S Beltran
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, Santa Cruz