DURIP Acquisition of 3 drones, batteries and data components.
Abstract
Title: Using unoccupied aerial systems for quantifying marine mammal health metricsNavy is responsible for compliance with federal regulations on protected species such as marine mammals under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. The Marine Mammal and Biology Program at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) supports research investigating the effects of sound on marine life. As part of this effort, the program thrusts include research focusing on improving our knowledge of the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on marine mammals at both the individual- and population levels to better inform models and databases used for environmental compliance.Hawai#i is home to >25 species of marine mammals and is also a significant strategic contingent of our Nation#sdefense activities # with some of these having the potential to negatively impact whales and dolphins. Since its inception in 1993,the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP) at the University of Hawaii has published >500 peer-reviewed publications and is dedicated to the conservation of marine mammals in Hawaii through empirical and applied research that supports science-based management. As such, the MMRP is uniquely placed to address questions essential to informing management and ensuring sustainability of marine mammals from human activities, including Navy activities. This project will develop a fully parameterized agent-based energetic model incorporating the novel contributions. Ultimately, if supported, our ONR proposal will develop a suite of Population Consequences of Multiple Stressors (PCoMS) models corresponding to alternative disturbance and climate-change scenarios, linking response to these stressors to vital rates and ultimately population consequences though their effects on whale body condition and other internal state variables.The MMRP is on the forefront of developing and using unoccupied aerial system (UAS; drone)-technology to better understand the behavioral ecology, health, bioenergetics and population status of large baleen whales and small dolphins (>15 publications since 2017). Until now, our extensive UAS-research focusing on marine mammals has relied on equipment that is now not approved by the Department of Defense (DoD). Specifically, our current UAS-equipment is not included in the December 2023 Blue sUAS list. The UAS systems included on this list have all undergone a cybersecurity evaluation, a National Authorization Act (NDAA) compliance check, and have been issued the necessary administrative documentation so that they do not require a DoD exception to policy to procure or operate.In order to collect the data detailed in our submitted ONR proposal, we must obtain UAS-equipment approved by the DoD. As such, we are seeking support to update our current capacity of UAS-systems to include NDAA approved UAS-equipment to continue our marine mammal research. Our marine mammal research focuses on improving knowledge of the effects anthropogenic disturbance on both individualand population levels to better inform models and databases used for Navy environmental compliance.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 26, 2024
- Source ID
- N000142512027
Entities
People
- Lars Bejder
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Hawaiʻi System