ObSERVE Acoustic

This three year project (2015-2018), aimed to provide robust scientific knowledge with respect to protected species occurrence and ecology along the Irish Atlantic Margin. Project partners included the Marine Institute, JASCO Applied Sciences, Sea Mammal Research Unit, Irish Whale and Dolphin Group. The project was funded by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources with support from the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

The Final Report is available on:

https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/natural-resources/topics/Oil-Gas-Exploration-Production/observe-programme/acoustic-survey/Pages/default.aspx#:~:text=The%20ObSERVE%20Acoustic%20project%20was%20carried%20out%20by,in%20May%202015%20and%20continued%20until%20November%202016.

Watch video on ObSERVE Programme here https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/natural-resources/topics/Oil-Gas-Exploration-Production/observe-programme/Pages/ObSERVE-Programme.aspx

Current published outputs include:

First confirmed sighting of Sowerby’s beaked whale (Mesoplodon bidens (Sowerby, 1804)) with calves in the Northeast Atlantic

Signals from the deep: Spatial and temporal acoustic occurrence of beaked whales off western Ireland

A first acoustic density estimate for sperm whales in Irish offshore waters

Temporal acoustic occurrence of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus and long-finned pilot whales Globicephala melas off western Ireland

Oceanographic Drivers of Cuvier’s (Ziphius cavirostris) and Sowerby’s (Mesoplodon bidens) Beaked Whales Acoustic Occurrence along the Irish Shelf Edge

Habitat Modelling on the Potential Impacts of Shipping Noise on Fin Whales (Balaenoptera physalus) in Offshore Irish Waters off the Porcupine Ridge