Ocean Networks Canada posts article about use of JASCO’s AMAR Observer to protect orcas

In February, Ocean Networks Canada posted an article highlighting JASCO’s involvement in one of the world’s most advanced cabled ocean observatories. JASCO’s AMAR Observer is helping ONC acoustically monitor orcas in the Salish Sea.

JASCO began collaborating with ONC’s Innovation Centre in 2012. Since September 2013, two AMAR Observers have been operating on ONC’s observatory in the Strait of Georgia. The Observers can collect and deliver acoustic and oceanographic data in real time, around the clock and throughout the year.

Researchers around the globe are using ONC’s infrastructure and data management system to measure and assess the impacts of manmade underwater noise on marine animals. Local researchers are also using the data to study the habitat of the endangered southern resident killer whales. The AMAR Observer and JASCO’s software facilitates this work by enabling real time detection, identification and localization of marine mammal calls. JASCO is studying changes in cetacean locations and calling behaviour that could be associated with exposure to man-made noise.

Read the full article on the Ocean Networks Canada website.
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Preparing AMAR arrays, with four hydrophones each, for installation on the seafloor in ONC's Strait of Georgia observatory. Photo courtesy of ONC.

Lowering AMAR Observer at ONC’s Strait of Georgia East observatory site. Photo courtesy of ONC.