This project finalized hardware/infrastructure for the Marine Mammal Monitoring on Ranges (M3R) system which automated passive acoustic marine mammal detection, localization, classification, and display tools using the Navy’s existing undersea hydrophone ranges. The M3R system aids visual and tagging methods, and enables comprehensive marine mammal monitoring to investigate long-term abundance and behavioral changes in the presence of sonar.

This project increased our understanding of marine mammal reactions to sound and provided a robust scientific basis for estimating the effect of Navy mid-frequency active sonar (MFAS) on marine mammal behavior. Project was co-funded by ONR and SERDP.

This project developed user interfaces and training courses to facilitate usage of the Ishmael signal-processing toolkit by Navy staff and contractors, reducing the need for expensive external expert staffing.

This project compared two alternative passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) technologies (gliders and drifting floating systems) to assess cost and performance relative to existing Navy PAM systems (moored and towed systems). The technologies demonstrated during this project are now available for use by the Navy’s marine species monitoring program.

This project developed automated ondontocete detectors and classifiers using both whistles and clicks. The detectors and classifiers developed during this project increase the effectiveness of analyzing passive acoustic monitoring data. These tools are now available for use by the Navy’s marine species monitoring program and the scientific community.

This project is developing and maintaining a test data set for assessing new PAM signal processing systems to generate cost and performance metrics for new signal processing tools under consideration.

This project developed and demonstrated improvements to the High-frequency Acoustic Recording Package (HARP) moored passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) systems. The HARPs are being widely used by the Navy’s marine species monitoring program.

This project developed a suite of automated signal conditioning tools for normalizing data sets from different ambient acoustic regimes prior to submitting such data to standardized automated signal processing systems.

This project investigated potential reasons why hearing data obtained by measuring auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) were not reliable for use in determining marine mammal weighting functions. Research found that low frequency stimuli produced both low and high frequency AEPs, and therefore the AEP measurements were not reliable at predicting perceived loudness in marine mammals at low frequencies.

This project is generating an updated review of the scientific information relevant to hearing in marine mammals and the effects of underwater sound. Project co-funded by ONR, JIP, and NMFS.

This project predicted a range of best hearing for the humpback whale based on a finite element model (FEM) of the middle ear.

This project demonstrated the Integrated Real-time Autonomous Passive Acoustic Monitoring (IRAP) system on a powered autonomous underwater vehicle (REMUS-600).

This project team published an ANSI standard to standardize data collection approaches for measuring Auditory Evoked Potential (AEP) hearing thresholds in toothed whales.

The study provided the first demographic hearing data from killer whales by measuring behavioral audiograms for animals of multiple ages.

This project produced surface sensitivity maps for three odontocete species. Surface maps were also generated comparing in-air vs. in-water. Results suggest there may be significant consequences for sound reception mechanisms and optimal placement and use of jawphones.

This project served as a “proof of concept” for density estimation of baleen whales using sonobuoy data. The development work completed under this project can be used to improve analysis of sonobuoy data in general. The final report summarizes best practices, including suggested changes to data collection, acoustic software modifications; and identified analytical approaches appropriate for working with arrays of sonobuoys.

This team will combine point transect methodology with available passive acoustic monitoring data to create population density estimates of calling blue and fin whales.

This project is creating an improved data collection platform technology to meet monitoring requirements.

The goal of this project is to demonstrate and validate a method for passive acoustic density estimation for cetaceans by combining data from instrumented and non-instrumented ranges.

This project is working to establish a behavioral dose–response relationship for sonar signals around 3 kHz in harbor porpoises.

This project is testing a new longer-lasting attachment method for digital tags.

This project is measuring the hearing of up to three Auk species to provide key hearing data needed to define acoustic criteria for the marbled murrelet.

The effort will generate significantly larger samples of high-resolution behavioral data, particularly for beaked whales, to support development of risk functions.

The data that results from this effort will help to define weighting functions and Temporary Threshold Shift/Permanent Threshold Shift values for mid-frequency cetaceans.

This effort will result in the publication of the first behavioral risk function for the Blainville’s beaked whale at the Pacific Missile Range Facility.

The results from this project will help to predict potential effects to fish that may occur during Navy explosives training activities.

This project will build new generation digital tags (DTAG-3s) to be field-tested during upcoming behavioral response studies.

This project would help to support development of an American National Standard on towed cabled PAM systems and operations for monitoring and mitigation.

The 3S (Sea mammals, Sonar, Safety) project, an international cooperative project now in its third phase, is evaluating whether exposure to continuously active sonar leads to different types or severity of behavioral responses than exposure to pulsed active (also called intermittent) sonar signals. In addition, the project is evaluating how the distance to the source affects behavioral responses.

To assess the effect of sonar source sources and distance (range), researchers are conducting controlled exposure experiments (CEE) with sonar from two different platforms. Each will be deployed at multiple, pre-defined distances from tagged animals to collect data on responses.

This effort is coordinating a group of density surface modeling (DSM) specialists to assess the varied approaches to and coordinate advances on using DSM models. These experts are focused on developing and implementing innovative approaches to improve spatial modeling methods used to characterize seasonal abundance and distribution of marine species, particularly in U.S. Navy training and testing areas.

This project focuses on measuring TTS and hearing recovery in harbor seals for deriving auditory weighting functions for seals.

This project is seeking to develop a set of standardized detectors and classifiers, along with a set of standardized nomenclature, for Navy sonar signals.

This project will conduct calibrated underwater acoustic field measurements associated with explosive detonations, which will be used to update the Navy’s Acoustic Effects Model.

This project is focused on developing a computationally efficient model selection method that could expand the utility of data collected from behavioral response studies and improve the approach to grouping species for risk threshold criteria.

This project seeks to contribute to developing tools needed to advance AEP measurements below 1 kHz by examining the potential for frequency-modulated, upward sweeping “chirp” stimuli to enhance marine mammal auditory brainstem response (ABR) amplitudes across a broad range of frequencies, including frequencies below 1 kHz.

This project is examining TTS in aquatic turtles and will potentially provide the initial sound exposure levels that induce these temporary threshold shifts. Resulting data could improve estimates of noise impacts to both freshwater and sea turtles and guide the development of a TTS study with sea turtles.

This project is focused on demonstrating passive acoustic density estimation methods and validating these methods using concurrent visual density estimation techniques.

This project is collecting relevant in situ data on the acoustic shock wave propagation during the full ship shock trial of the new Navy aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78). The data will help the Navy to validate the underlying acoustic propagation model used within the Navy Acoustic Effects Model (NAEMO).

The overall goal of this two-phase effort is to update previous studies done with LFA sources during the 1990s, based on lessons learned and best practices from controlled and observational behavioral response studies using other sonar sources conducted over the last 10 years. As part of the Phase I feasibility study, these projects are investigating the best approach to designing a scientific study to assess behavioral response to LFA sonar.

This work, co-funded by the LMR program and the Naval Innovative Science and Engineering (NISE) program, is assessing conditioned hearing attenuation in bottlenose dolphins. The project will measure how quickly dolphins can learn to suppress (i.e., attenuate) their hearing in anticipation of an impending intense sound, determine how long they can maintain the attenuation and assess the role of outer hair cells in the conditioned hearing change.

This effort will develop information needed to determine the feasibility of using animal cue rate (calling rate) and the cue stability for acoustic density estimation.

This project will provide auditory data for odobenid and otariid carnivores (Pacific walruses and California sea lions, respectively) needed to compare the acoustic sensitivity between these marine mammal taxa and support environmental compliance efforts.

This project will demonstrate, on three autonomous platforms, a combined passive acoustic detection and classification hardware/software system that is capable of detecting the calls of four species of endangered baleen whales in near real time. The project is a partnership between the LMR program and Environmental Security Technology Certification Program.

This project will develop tools to aid in extracting whale swim track kinematic data more efficiently from the Navy range hydrophone data. Main goals include developing an acoustic modeling software interface, automated track kinematics software, and automated classification of track information.