Kaua‘i field project - August 2026
August 25, 2026
Researchers from Cascadia Research Collective are conducting a 9-day field session off Kaua'i to deploy LIMPET satellite tags on odontocete cetaceans prior to a Submarine Command Course (SCC) to be able to examine their behavior before, during, and after the training event. Click on the image below to see daily updates from the field.
Read post
Another CEE Trial – and Gervais’ beaked whales!
August 10, 2026
A second controlled exposure experiment trial with simulated Continuously Active Sonar (CAS) was conducted on August 1. In addition to the usual goose-beaked whales, we also had a sighting of less common Gervais' beaked whales.
Read post
First CEE Trial of 2026 – and False Killer Whales
July 23, 2026
The Atlantic BRS team had an extremely productive day on Friday, July 17th with tags deployed on both false killer whales and goose-beaked whales, as well as a successful controlled exposure experiment with simulated Continuous Active Sonar signals.
Read post
Atlantic BRS - First CEE of 2021
August 9, 2021
A team of researchers and Navy staff recently completed the first controlled exposure experiment of the 2021 field season for the Atlantic Behavioral Response Study.
Read post
Atlantic Behavioral Response Study kicks off 2021 field season
July 13, 2021
The Atlantic Behavioral Response Study kicked off the 2021 field season last week by deploying the first round of satellite-linked telemetry tags on Cuvier's beaked whales.
Read post
Atlantic BRS - First CEE of 2020
July 17, 2020
The first CEE of 2020 overcame the challenges of COVID-19.
Read post
Atlantic BRS - Multi-scale CEE Success!
August 15, 2019
The first CEE while two different tag types were deployed.
Read post
Current
Monitoring Cetaceans in Hood Canal
Project Objectives
This 12‑month integrated pilot project combines three complementary components: (A) shore‑based theodolite monitoring of harbor porpoises, (B) high‑bandwidth passive acoustic monitoring and soundscape characterization, and (C) suction‑cup multi‑sensor tag deployments on Bigg’s (transient) killer whales. Together, these data streams will quantify occurrence, movement, diving, and behavioral context for these two key species in relation to the local soundscape—including operational signals near the Dabob Bay Range Complex (DBRC) and the Bangor Trident Base. Results can provide an empirical foundation and inform the study design of future cetacean behavioral response studies (BRS) in Hood Canal.
View project
Complete
Behavioral Response Research Evaluation Workshop II (BRREW II)
Project Objectives
Response
View project
Current
Behavioral Response Analysis of Two Populations of Short-Finned Pilot Whales to Mid-Frequency Active Sonar
Project Objectives
Utilize newly developed statistical methods from the Atlantic BRS project and apply them to all the satellite-tagged pilot whales from both the Atlantic and Pacific studies.
View project
More details Collapse details
Date Published:
  • January 1, 2018

Passive acoustic monitoring was conducted using High-frequency Acoustic Recording Packages (HARPs) deployed in waters offshore of Virginia, North Carolina, and Florida with support from the US Navy during 2016 - 2017. The HARPs recorded underwater sounds between 10 Hz and 100 kHz. Data analysis consisted of analyst scans of long-term spectral averages (LTSAs) and spectrograms, and automated computer algorithm detection when possible. Three frequency bands were analyzed for marine mammal vocalizations and anthropogenic sounds: (1) Lowfrequency, between 10-1000 Hz, (2) Mid-frequency, between 1,000-5,000 Hz, and (3) Highfrequency, between 1-100 kHz.

Filesize:
  • 5,208.04 KB
Ocean:Region:Species:Methods:
More details Collapse details
Date Published:
  • July 30, 2009

In support of the U.S. Navy’s (Navy) Marine Mammal Monitoring Plan (M3P) in the Southern California Range Complex (SOCAL) (DoN 2009), aerial surveys were conducted by Marine Mammal Research Consultants (MMRC) and Smultea Environmental Sciences (SES) to monitor marine mammals and sea turtles (MM/ST) during June and July 2009 in the SOCAL area.

Filesize:
  • 4,717.48 KB
Ocean:Region:Species:Methods:
Effects of duty-cycled passive acoustic recordings on detecting the presence of beaked whales in the northwest Atlantic. Stanistreet, J.E., D.P. Nowacek, A.J. Read, S. Baumann-Pickering, H.B. Moors-Murphy, and S.M. Van Parijs. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. 2026. 140(1):EL31-EL37
More details Collapse details
Date Published:
  • March 2, 2026

This study investigated the effects of using duty-cycled passive acoustic recordings to monitor the daily presence of beaked whale species at three locations in the northwest Atlantic. Continuous acoustic records were subsampled to simulate duty cycles of 50%, 25%, and 10% and cycle period durations from 10 to 60 min. Short, frequent listening periods were most effective for assessing the daily presence of beaked whales. Furthermore, subsampling at low duty cycles led to consistently greater underestimation of Mesoplodon species than either Cuvier's beaked whales or northern bottlenose whales, leading to a potential bias in estimation of relative species occurrence.

Publication:Ocean:Region:Species:Methods:
Using passive acoustic monitoring to document the distribution of beaked whale species in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Stanistreet, J.E., D.P. Nowacek, S. Baumann-Pickering, J. Bell, D.M. Cholewiak, J.A. Hildebrand, L.E.W. Hodge, H. Moors-Murphy, S.M. Van Parijs, A.J. Read. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. 2017. 74(12): 2098-2109. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0503
More details Collapse details
Date Published:
  • December 1, 2017

Little is known about the ecology of many beaked whale species, despite concerns raised by mass strandings linked to certain sources of anthropogenic noise. Here, we used passive acoustic monitoring to examine spatial and temporal patterns in beaked whale occurrence at six locations along the continental slope in the western North Atlantic Ocean.

Publication:Ocean:Region:Species:Methods:
Monitoring the acoustic ecology of the shelf break of Georges Bank, Northwestern Atlantic Ocean: new approaches to visualizing complex acoustic data. Weiss, S.G., D. Cholewiak, K.E. Frasier, J.S. Trickey, S. Baumann-Pickering, J.A. Hildebrand, and S.M. Van Parijs. Marine Policy. 2021. Volume 130. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104570
More details Collapse details
Date Published:
  • August 1, 2021

This study aims to assess the co-occurrence of cetaceans and anthropogenic activities, presenting simple and accessible visualizations of the temporal and spectral overlap.

Publication:Ocean:Region:Species:Methods:
No related presentations or posters to display