1 year of wide-area acoustic monitoring in the Falkland Islands

JASCO completed a wide-area, 1-year static acoustic monitoring program in the Falkland Islands as part of a broad Environmental Impact Assessment undertaken by Rockhopper Exploration / Premier Oil. This extensive recording program was conducted in the challenging South Atlantic Ocean in 450 m of water and provided continuously recorded, wideband acoustic data to assess marine mammal diversity and temporal variability in presence throughout the year. 

9 TB of acoustic recordings, custom-designed moorings

The program successfully recorded several species of cetaceans and pinnipeds and returned almost 9 TB of new acoustic recordings for this unique and little-studied environment. It also rendered detailed results for ambient noise level variability through all four seasons plus spectral and intensity information on the various anthropogenic contributions to the overall background noise. The deep water required that we custom design the moorings to deploy the recording instruments at precise depths whilst allowing for remote release to the surface and satellite tracking. The JASCO field team worked with local marine mammal specialists and an excellent offshore service vessel and crew to complete this logistically and environmentally challenging project on time and on budget.