Successful CEE Trial with the USS Thomas Hudner
July 24, 2024
In July 2024, the Atlantic Behavioral Response Study, led by Duke University, conducted a successful controlled exposure experiment (CEE) involving the USS Thomas Hudner and tagged goose-beaked whales off Cape Hatteras. The study assessed the whales' behavioral responses to Continuous Active Sonar (CAS) signals, utilizing a High Frequency Recording Package (HARP) for sound recordings and coordination with the USS Thomas Hudner for sonar signal transmission. Preliminary observations suggested minimal behavioral changes in the focal whale, Zc150, during the experiment.
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Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Marine Mammals in the Gulf of Alaska
Project Objectives
Determine the spatial distribution and occurrence of beaked whales, other odontocetes, and baleen whales in offshore areas using bottom-mounted passive acoustic recorders and deep-diving autonomous gliders
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Current
Southern California Beaked Whale Occurrence (formerly "Passive Acoustic Monitoring of Marine Mammals in Southern California Range Complex (SOCAL)")
Project Objectives
Determine the distribution and temporal patterns of beaked whale occurrence in the waters within and outside the Southern California Range Complex (SOCAL). Use passive acoustic monitoring to determine what species are present in SOCAL and examine spatial and temporal patterns.
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Complete
Baseline Monitoring for Marine Mammals in the East Coast Range Complexes (passive acoustics)
Project Objectives
Assess occurrence, density, and vocal activity of marine mammals and sea turtles in key areas of Navy range complexes
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Current
Acoustic Ecology of Northwest Atlantic Shelf Break Cetaceans and Effects of Anthropogenic Noise Impacts
Project Objectives
Assess the acoustic niche of marine mammal species and anthropogenic contributors to disturbance
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Current
North Atlantic Right Whale Monitoring, Conservation, and Protection
Project Objectives
Assess occurrence, habitat use, and behavior of North Atlantic right whales in the mid-Atlantic region
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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.

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  • 5,208.04 KB
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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.

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  • 4,717.48 KB
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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
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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
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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.

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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
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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.

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