In spring/summer of 2018 and 2021, the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Cetacean Research Program deployed drifting acoustic recorders in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zones surrounding the Mariana Archipelago.
We used long-term passive acoustic recordings from the northwestern Gulf of Mexico shelf break to explore the extent of Rice’s whale distribution in the northern Gulf of Mexico and to evaluate whether they exhibit seasonal movements throughout this range.
We conclude that long-term passive acoustic monitoring (PAM records) are a valuable resource for documenting cetacean species patterns and contributes insights into the lives of top predators.
Further understanding the distribution patterns of sperm whale populations in Hawaiʻi and contributing methods for building species distribution models.
The gear library is a collection of on-demand or “ropeless” systems, built with help and donations from environmental and academic organizations, that we lend to fishermen for testing.
We conduct surveys and develop abundance and distribution models to better understand how protected species such as whales, dolphins, and sea turtles use our waters.