ASV Performs Passive Acoustic Monitoring in GoM
ASV informs it has collaborated with the Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center Gulf Ecological Monitoring and Modeling (LADC-GEMM) consortium to conduct 10 days of Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) data collection for its BP/Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) funded project.
ASV worked with Seiche Measurements Limited to integrate its PAM technology on both the C-Worker 6 and C-Enduro Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs). The ASV crew operated from the R/V Pelican coastal research vessel to collect extensive data, which will undergo analysis in the coming months.
The two ASVs were able to identify approximately 30 marine mammals whilst operating in challenging sea conditions up to sea state 5.
PAM is increasingly used by the scientific community to study, survey, and census marine mammals, especially cetaceans. The three year BP/GoMRI sponsored project intends to investigate how the 2010 Deep Water Horizon oil spill has affected marine mammal populations in nearby spill areas, as well as improve methods for monitoring everyday operations in the Gulf of Mexico.