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Aran inspecting a coral in the USVI.
(Photo: M Kaplan) |
Numerous fish, marine mammals
and invertebrate species use sound in the ocean to communicate, navigate, find
prey, and listen for or avoid predators. Sound in the ocean is a useful sensory
modality because it can travel efficiently over long distances, and is
available in deep, dark and murky waters, when light and other cues might not be.
The diverse assemblage of sounds in the ocean are often referred to as the “soundscape”.
Humans also produce a substantial amount of ocean noise, which can influence
and change a local soundscape, and consequently could affect animal behavior.
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Aran deploying acoustic recorders on a
reef in the USVI. (Photo: M Kaplan) |
Our
soundscape research investigates spatial and temporal variability in the sounds
produced by marine animals and humans in a range of marine ecosystems. Specifically,
we are interested in the relationship between the sounds produced in a given
habitat and the animals that live there. One of our major research questions is
– do the variety and abundance of sounds recorded in a given habitat accurately
reflect that habitat’s animal biodiversity? Currently, our we are carrying out
research in St John, US Virgin Islands, Maui, Hawaii, and Nantucket Sound,
Massachusetts. These projects are detailed below.
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Deployed DSG (large grey cylinder) and DMON (above DSG) on a reef in the USVI.
(Photo: M Kaplan) |
We deployed broadband digital passive acoustic recorders developed at WHOI
to assess species richness and relative animal abundance in the US Virgin
Islands National Park in 2013. The goal of that project was to use short- (24
hour) and long-term (4 month) measurements to evaluate the spatial and temporal
variability in the local soundscape of coral reef habitats across multiple
sites. These acoustic recorders were deployed in a range of healthy and
impacted coral reef sites in order to collect baseline recordings from
locations with varying biological diversity. Those data were the basis of
two recent publications.
This approach may provide a novel means to assess both spatiotemporal
heterogeneity and monitor marine ecosystem health, as well as track human
activity in an area. More broadly, this investigation can help the managers and
government agencies to identify changes in animal abundance and distribution,
to designate key areas for protection, and to highlight areas that may be
vulnerable to a changing environment.
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Marc Lammers and Max refurbishing an EAR acoustic recording on the OSI Vessel in Maui, HI.
(Photo: A Mooney) |
We are currently carrying out a follow-up project on a much larger scale in
Maui, Hawaii, in collaboration with Dr. Marc Lammers of the
Oceanwide Science Institute. We have
eight reefs instrumented with acoustic recorders and temperature loggers and
have been carrying out concurrent visual surveys. The recorders are due to be
retrieved in January 2016, yielding a total of 16 months of data collection.
In addition, we have
collected passive acoustic data from Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound,
Massachusetts, since 2012. The goal of this project is to establish the
soundscape of Horseshoe Shoal, identifying what animals are making sounds, and
when and how often they occur.
Cape Wind
Project summary
This
work includes monitoring the marine soundscape on and near Horseshoe
Shoals, Nantucket Sound, the proposed Cape Wind windfarm site. The goal
is to establish baseline passive acoustic monitoring of this ecosystem
and identify the occurence of different types sounds (and hence,
biological activity and physical events). We're looking for a motivated
graduate student to assist with this project.
This early work is
novel and critical to establish the baseline soundscape of the Nantucket
Sound environment. Deoployments began in April (2012) using WHOI’s
innovative acoustic recording device called the DMON (Digital acoustic
Monitors). This records broadband (up to 60 kHz). As part of this
project, we are going out to Nantucket Sound on a weekly basis to change
out DMONs and download the data. We also developed a simple mooring to
deploy the DMON.
Figure 1. (A)The DMON on
the dock after retrieval. This small device records sounds from
low-frequency fish and construction sounds to ultrasonic dolphin
signals. (B) Our mooring on Horseshoe Shoals, Nantucket Sound, site of
the future Cape Wind windfarm. (C) The current CapeWind ‘test’ platform
on Horseshoe Shoals. Our DMON is approximately 200 m from this platform.
Figure 2. Sound recordings from the first DMON
deployment on Horseshoe Shoals, Nantucket Sound. (A) Shows noise from
nearby fishing vessels, but otherwise a relatively quiet environment.
(B) Yet unidentified fish sounds.
This project was catalyzed by support from the Harrison Foundation, the John E. and Anne W. Sawyer Endowed Fund and continues with support from NOAA's Sea Grant.
