Marine Bioacoustics: Back to the Future

• Main Author: Greene, Charles H
• Other Authors: KOHALA CENTER KAMUELA HI
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Biology; Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Acoustics; *ACOUSTIC TRACKING; *AQUATIC ANIMALS; *BIOACOUSTICS; *IN SITU ANALYSIS; *UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS; ACOUSTIC DATA; BRITISH COLUMBIA; COURSES(EDUCATION); ENDANGERED SPECIES; FIELD TESTS; FISHES; HAWAII; HYDROPHONES; LABORATORY TESTS; STUDENTS; TRAINING; TURTLES; WHALES; *MARINE BIOACOUSTICS; *BIOACOUSTICAL OCEANOGRAPHY; SAANICH INLET; MARINE PREDATOR-PREY STUDIES; CONSERVATION BIOLOGY; WHALE TRACKING; WHALE LOCALIZATION; ORCA TRACKING; ORCA LOCALIZATION; EUPHAUSIIDS; KRILL; British Columbia; Canada; Orca
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA600372; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA600372

The primary goal of our project is to provide advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral investigators with a broad understanding of ocean acoustics as well as the techniques used to study the ecology of marine animals in situ. By bringing together many of the top researchers in marine bioacoustics, biological oceanography, and marine biology, we provide students with a unique opportunity to work side by side with world experts using state-of-the-art tools and technologies. A secondary goal of the project is to provide a setting for developing and testing new technologies. In this manner, it serves as a research magnet, attracting leading scientists to conduct their own research in a creative teaching and learning environment that catalyzes interactions across the various disciplines associated with Bioacoustical Oceanography. The specific objective of this project is to provide students with a broad understanding of the acoustic techniques used to study the distribution and behavior of marine animals in the context of their physical/chemical/biological environment. During the full summer course, the following three field projects were conducted: (1) an experimental study in Saanich Inlet, BC, Canada, to test the hypothesis that strobe lights on a MOCNESS sampling system would reduce or eliminate net avoidance by euphausiids; (2) a passive acoustics exercise at Lime Kiln Lighthouse to calibrate its hydrophone array and evaluate its performance in localizing and tracking orcas; and (3) a fisheries acoustics cruise to demonstrate the methods used for conducting marine predator-prey studies using acoustics to define prey fields.