Underwater Acoustic Measurements in Davis Strait: A Joint US-Greenland Collaboration to Integrate Ambient Noise Data with Physical Oceanography and Marine Mammal Occurrence

格陵兰岛西部近海大型鲸鱼的出现、分布和数量是格陵兰岛和国际社会感兴趣的问题，但缺乏全年观察这些动物的手段。该项目将在戴维斯海峡的海洋学系泊设施上安装被动声学监测装置。这些录音将提供关于至少五种鲸目动物的声音行为和季节性出现的新颖的全年信息，包括独角鲸、弓头鲸、长须鲸、小须鲸和座头鲸。该项目支持华盛顿大学的美国研究人员与格陵兰自然资源研究所的研究人员合作研究戴维斯海峡。来自戴维斯海峡地区的全年声学数据将提供一个衡量大鲸鱼发声的季节性存在的尺度，包括受保护物种（座头鲸和弓头鲸）和格陵兰猎人捕获的物种（长须鲸和小须鲸）。由于该地区的季节性冰层覆盖，排除了研究这些物种的其他手段，因此无法获得这些信息。此外，将水听器与测量海流、海面温度和冰盖等海洋学变量的仪器放在同一地点，将有助于探索这些数据与鲸鱼叫声发生的协方差。GINR的科学家将接受声学数据分析方法的培训。这项合作将有助于建立格陵兰监测和研究受保护和捕捞的海洋哺乳动物的能力，并将为两国的研究人员提供有关这些冰层覆盖的沃茨中海洋哺乳动物的前所未有的数据。

The occurrence, distribution and numbers of large whales offshore West Greenland are of interest to Greenland and the international community, however a means to observe these animals year-round is lacking. This project will deploy passive acoustic monitoring devices on oceanographic moorings in the Davis Strait. The sound recordings will provide novel, year-round information on the vocal behavior and seasonal occurrence of at least five cetacean species including narwhal, bowhead, fin, minke, and humpback whales. This project supports collaboration between U.S. researchers at the University of Washington and researchers at the Greenland Institute for Natural Resources to study the Davis Strait. Year-round acoustic data from the Davis Strait region will provide a measure of the seasonal presence of vocal large whales, including both protected species (humpback and bowhead whales) and those harvested by Greenland hunters (fin and minke whales). This information is unavailable otherwise due to seasonal ice cover in the region that precludes other means of studying these species. Additionally, the co-location of hydrophones with instruments that measure oceanographic variables such as currents, sea surface temperature and ice cover will permit the exploration of covariance of these data with whale call occurrence. Scientists at GINR will be trained in the methodology for analyzing acoustic data. This collaboration will help build Greenland's capacity to monitor and study protected and harvested marine mammals and it will provide unprecedented data to researchers in both countries about marine mammals in these ice-covered waters.