Monitoring Marine Mammals from Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

大陆架交换创造了大陆架上营养物质的主要供应，因此对大陆架上生态系统的健康至关重要。Fastnet方案将以比以前更高的空间分辨率研究货架交换机制，并将在一年中的所有季节进行研究。这将使开发高分辨率的陆架边缘过程模型成为可能。Fastnet的大部分数据将使用携带测量标准海洋参数的传感器的自主水下滑翔机收集。利用更多的数据，我们提议的工作计划将使我们能够第一次调查这些低水平过程与它们对最终依赖于这些交换过程的较高营养水平的动物的影响之间的关系。鲸目动物的调查传统上使用目测线横断面方法。这些措施的实施成本很高，而且通常只能在夏季进行。被动声学监测(PAM)提供了一个真正的替代方案，因为许多物种都会发出独特的叫声。PAM技术的最新进展也意味着现在可以生产非常适合滑翔机部署的传感器组件，这些组件体积小，能够携带自己的电源组进行数周甚至数月的部署。建模技术在估计鲸目动物的丰度方面已经很成熟，在较小程度上也用于调查栖息地的利用。用于该模型的协变量数据通常不会与鲸鱼丰度数据在同一时间和地点收集。此外，海洋学数据通常限于海洋的上层几厘米(例如，海面温度)，而动物在深海觅食。对于我们计划在这里研究的物种，我们不仅可以识别对物种的叫声，还可以识别与觅食有关的声音。这些识别动物实际进食地点的数据可以用来微调栖息地模型。我们假设，包含与鲸目动物数据相同深度和同一时间测量的参数的鲸目动物丰度模型将比目前仅有表面数据的模型显示出显着的改进。我们将为滑翔机部署传感器组件，能够使用PAM测量鲸目动物的存在和数量。这些将基于该项目的两位提出者约翰逊和泰克开发的低功率动物携带传感器。在第一年，我们将使用现有的传感器，但在这一年中，我们预计下一代PAM设备将以更低的功率和增强的板载处理能力提供。与在大洋大陆架交换方案上测量的其他海洋学和生物化学参数相结合，这将有助于更好地了解大陆架交换如何直接影响高营养级别的生物活动。通过使用鲸鱼和海豚的发声(叫声)而不是肉眼观察来衡量它们的存在和数量，并通过对模型进行拟合来精确地测量它们的环境数据，我们的目标是开发更详细的物种栖息地模型，这将提高我们对鲸目动物生态学的理解。了解影响鲸鱼和海豚分布和行为的过程很重要，因为鲸目动物形成了一个主要的捕食者群体，可能通过自上而下的强迫对海洋环境的结构产生重大影响，而且因为它们缓慢的生活史使它们特别容易受到人类活动的影响。为这些物种确定最合适的保护措施，关键取决于对它们如何利用现有栖息地的了解。

Shelf exchange creates the main supply of nutrients onto the continental shelf and is therefore vital to the health of on-shelf ecosystems. The FASTNEt programme will study shelf exchange mechanisms at a higher spatial resolution than has been previously possible and also throughout all seasons of the year. This will allow the development of high resolution models of shelf edge processes. Much of the FASTNEt data will be collected using Autonomous Underwater Gliders carrying sensors measuring standard oceanographic parameters. Using additional data, our proposed program of work will enable us for the first time to investigate relationships between these low level processes and their effect on animals feeding at higher trophic levels which are ultimately dependent on these exchange processes. Cetaceans are traditionally surveyed using visual line transect methods. These are expensive to implement and can generally only be conducted during the summer months. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) offers a real alternative because many species make distinctive calls. Recent advances in PAM technology also mean that it is now possible to produce sensor packages which are ideally suited to glider deployment, being small and able to carry their own power pack for deployments of weeks or even months. Modelling techniques are well-established for estimating cetacean abundance and, to a lesser extent, for investigating habitat use. Covariate data used for this modelling are generally not collected at the same time and place as the whale abundance data. In addition, oceanographic data are typically limited to the upper few cm of the ocean (e.g. sea surface temperature), whereas the animals are feeding at depth. For the species we propose to study here, we can not only identify calls to species, but we can identify sounds associated with foraging. These data identifying locations where animals are actually feeding can be used to fine-tune habitat models. We hypothesise that models of cetacean abundance that incorporate parameters measured at the same depth and the same time as the cetacean data will show a marked improvement over current surface data only models. We will deploy sensor packages for gliders capable of measuring the presence and abundance of cetaceans using PAM. These will be based on low power animal borne sensors developed by two of the project proposers Johnson and Tyack. During the first year we will make use of existing sensors but over the course of the year, we expect the next generation of PAM devices to become available with lower power and enhanced on board processing capability. When combined with other oceanographic and biochemical parameters measured on the Ocean Shelf Exchange programme this will lead to greater understanding of how shelf exchange directly affects biological activity at high trophic levels. By using the vocalisations (calls) of whales and dolphins, instead of visual observations, as measures of their presence and abundance, and by fitting models to fine scale in situ data on their environment, we aim to develop more detailed species-habitat models that will improve our understanding of cetacean ecology. Understanding the processes that influence the distribution and behaviour of whales and dolphins is important both because cetaceans form a major predator group that potentially has a large impact on the structure of the marine environment through top-down forcing, and because their slow life histories make them particularly vulnerable to human activities. Determining the most appropriate conservation measures for these species depends crucially on knowledge of how they utilise the available habitat.