Glider-Based Passive Acoustic Monitoring in the Arctic

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 40-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark F. Baumgartner ◽  
Kathleen M. Stafford ◽  
Peter Winsor ◽  
Hank Statscewich ◽  
David M. Fratantoni
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Marine Mammal ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Frequency Detection ◽  
Passive Acoustic ◽  
The Impact

AbstractPersistently poor weather in the Arctic makes traditional marine mammal research from aircraft and ships difficult, yet collecting information on marine mammal distribution and habitat utilization is vital for understanding the impact of climate change on Arctic ecosystems. Moreover, as industrial use of the Arctic increases with the expansion of the open-water summer season, there is an urgent need to monitor the effects of noise from oil and gas exploration and commercial shipping on marine mammals. During September 2013, we deployed a single Slocum glider equipped with a digital acoustic monitoring (DMON) instrument to record and process in situ low-frequency (<5 kHz) audio to characterize marine mammal occurrence and habitat as well as ambient noise in the Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska, USA. The DMON was programmed with the low-frequency detection and classification system (LFDCS) to autonomously detect and classify sounds of a variety of Arctic and sub-Arctic marine mammal species. The DMON/LFDCS reported regularly in near real time via Iridium satellite detailed detection data, summary classification information, and spectra of background noise. The spatial distributions of bowhead whale, bearded seal, and walrus call rates were correlated with surface salinity measured by the glider. Bowhead whale and walrus call rates were strongly associated with a warm and salty water mass of Bering Sea origin. With a passive acoustic capability that allows both archival recording and near real-time reporting, we envision ocean gliders will become a standard tool for marine mammal and ocean noise research and monitoring in the Arctic.

Acoustic detections of Arctic marine mammals near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
W.D. Halliday ◽  
M.K. Pine ◽  
S.J. Insley ◽  
R.N. Soares ◽  
P. Kortsalo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Anthropogenic Activity ◽  
Marine Animals ◽  
Vocal Activity ◽  
Beluga Whale Delphinapterus Leucas ◽  
Passive Acoustic

The Arctic marine environment is changing rapidly through a combination of sea ice loss and increased anthropogenic activity. Given these changes can affect marine animals in a variety of ways, understanding the spatial and temporal distributions of Arctic marine animals is imperative. We use passive acoustic monitoring to examine the presence of marine mammals near Ulukhaktok, Northwest Territories, Canada, from October 2016 to April 2017. We documented bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus, 1758) and beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) vocalizations later into the autumn than expected, and we recorded bowhead whales in early April. We recorded ringed seal (Pusa hispida (Schreber, 1775)) vocalizations throughout our deployment, with higher vocal activity than in other studies and with peak vocal activity in January. We recorded bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus (Erxleben, 1777)) throughout the deployment, with peak vocal activity in February. We recorded lower bearded seal vocal activity than other studies, and almost no vocal activity near the beginning of the spring breeding season. Both seal species vocalized more when ice concentration was high. These patterns in vocal activity document the presence of each species at this site over autumn and winter and are a useful comparison for future monitoring.

scholarly journals The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA)

Ocean Science ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burkard Baschek ◽  
Friedhelm Schroeder ◽  
Holger Brix ◽  
Rolf Riethmüller ◽  
Thomas H. Badewien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Seas ◽  
The Public ◽  
The North ◽  
Data Products ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Arctic Coast ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA) was established in order to better understand the complex interdisciplinary processes of northern seas and the Arctic coasts in a changing environment. Particular focus is given to the German Bight in the North Sea as a prime example of a heavily used coastal area, and Svalbard as an example of an Arctic coast that is under strong pressure due to global change.The COSYNA automated observing and modelling system is designed to monitor real-time conditions and provide short-term forecasts, data, and data products to help assess the impact of anthropogenically induced change. Observations are carried out by combining satellite and radar remote sensing with various in situ platforms. Novel sensors, instruments, and algorithms are developed to further improve the understanding of the interdisciplinary interactions between physics, biogeochemistry, and the ecology of coastal seas. New modelling and data assimilation techniques are used to integrate observations and models in a quasi-operational system providing descriptions and forecasts of key hydrographic variables. Data and data products are publicly available free of charge and in real time. They are used by multiple interest groups in science, agencies, politics, industry, and the public.

scholarly journals Cues, creaks, and decoys: using passive acoustic monitoring as a tool for studying sperm whale depredation

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (5) ◽  
pp. 1621-1636 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Thode ◽  
Delphine Mathias ◽  
Janice Straley ◽  
Victoria O'Connell ◽  
Linda Behnken ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Sperm Whale ◽  
Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Sperm Whales ◽  
Passive Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Fishing Activity ◽  
Fishing Vessels ◽  
Passive Acoustic

Abstract Since 2003, a collaborative effort (SEASWAP) between fishers, scientists, and managers has researched how Alaskan sperm whales locate demersal longline fishing activity and then depredate sablefish from gear. Sperm whales constantly produce relatively low-frequency biosonar signals whenever foraging; therefore, over the past decade, passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has become a basic tool, used for both measuring depredation activity and accelerating field tests of potential depredation countermeasures. This paper reviews and summarizes past published PAM research on SEASWAP, and then provides a detailed example of how PAM methods are currently being used to test countermeasures. The review covers two major research thrusts: (i) identifying acoustic outputs of fishing vessels that provide long-distance “cues” that attract whales to fishing activity; and (ii) validating whether distinctive “creak” sounds can be used to quantify and measure depredation rates, using both bioacoustic tags and statistical comparisons between visual and acoustic depredation estimates during federal sablefish surveys. The latter part of the paper then provides an example of how PAM is being used to study a particular potential countermeasure: an “acoustic decoy” which transmits fishing vessel acoustic cues to attract animals away from true fishing activity. The results of an initial 2011 field trial are presented to show how PAM was used to design the decoy signals and monitor the efficacy of the deployment. The ability of PAM to detect both whale presence and depredation behaviour has reduced the need to deploy researchers or other specialists on fishing cruises. Instead, volunteer fishers can deploy “user-friendly” acoustic recorders on their gear, greatly facilitating the testing of various deterrents, and providing the industry and regulators a convenient and unobtrusive tool for monitoring both the scale and long-term spread of this behaviour across the Alaskan fishery.

Real-Time Passive Acoustic Monitoring of HIFU-Induced Tissue Damage

2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 922-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sacha D. Nandlall ◽  
Edward Jackson ◽  
Constantin-C. Coussios
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Tissue Damage ◽  
Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Passive Acoustic Monitoring ◽  
Passive Acoustic

Analysis of Wavelet Transform for Interharmonic Measurement

2013 ◽  
Vol 732-733 ◽  
pp. 813-816
Author(s):  
Da Hai Zhang ◽  
Jian He ◽  
Zhi Guang Tian ◽  
Biao Li
Keyword(s):  
Wavelet Transform ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Frequency Measurement ◽  
Sampling Frequency ◽  
Difficult Problem ◽  
Measurement Results ◽  
Sampling Window ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Real Time Application

Fast and accurate measurement of interharmonic is a difficult problem. Fourier transform is widely used but it is not suitable for real-time application. Wavelet transform has better real-time performance, but its accuracy needs to be improved, so the paper studies the performance of wavelet transform for interharmonic measurement. By software simulation, it evaluates the impact of interharmonic frequency, sampling window and sampling frequency on the accuracy of interharmonic frequency measurement. Results show that wavelet method doesn’t require long sampling window or high sampling frequency, which makes it easy to be applied, and it can provide better measurement accuracy for high frequency interharmonics than low frequency interharmonics.

scholarly journals On the Shoulder of a Giant: an Inuit Folktale by N. Christopher

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Public Libraries ◽  
Picture Book ◽  
Bowhead Whale ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Quality Work ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The University ◽  
The Impact

Christopher, Neil.  On the Shoulder of a Giant:  an Inuit Folktale. Iqualuit:  Inhabit Media, 2015. Print.This is another in a series of works designed by Neil Christopher, one of the founders of Inhabit Media, to preserve traditional Inuit stories.  In this book he retells a story, which is known in various forms all across the Arctic, of a giant who adopts a hunter as his son.  This giant, named Inukpak,  is one of the inukpasugjuit or “great giants” of Inuit stories.  Inukpak is so big that he can walk across the Arctic in “just a few days” and when he stands in the sea the water "never come[s] up past his knees". He is so big that he thinks that the hunter is a lost child, so he adopts him and carries him on his shoulder.This is a simple retelling, designed to teach about the mythical giants and to explain why the story is found in many cultures across the Canadian Arctic.  However, it also models a big person/small person relationship in which small people do not correct or talk back to big people.  Children will relate to the hunter, who is treated as a child and because the story is told from the hunter's perspective.  The giant sometimes doesn't recognize the impact of his own actions.  For example when he runs back to shore, he creates waves that swamp the hunter, but the giant thinks the hunter has been playing in the water.  "The hunter wanted to tell the giant that he had not been playing in the water.  He also wanted to explain to Inukpak that he had caught a bowhead whale, not a sculpin.  But, once again, the little hunter did not want to argue with a giant, so he just said, 'Okay.' "This is mainly a picture book. The illustrations run over two-page spreads with text over-printed on them.  Jim Nelson does a good job of presenting the difference in size between the giant and the human.  Inukpak is presented as a happy fellow, with black shaggy hair and a full beard.  Children will be amused by the giant picking up a polar bear by the scruff of its neck, like a kitten. The images are realistic and the backgrounds are lovely representations of Arctic landscapes. Overall, this is an enjoyable and high-quality work that should be included in elementary school libraries, public libraries and libraries specializing in Arctic children’s books.Highly Recommended:  4 out of 4 starsReviewer:  Sandy CampbellSandy is a Health Sciences Librarian at the University of Alberta, who has written hundreds of book reviews across many disciplines.  Sandy thinks that sharing books with children is one of the greatest gifts anyone can give. 

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