What better way to track whales than listening in on them? Passive acoustic monitoring, in which microphones are placed underwater to pick up any sounds, has long helped scientists detect the presence, or absence, of whales in oceans. More often than not, however, the method isn’t that great at estimating the population of whales. To fill that gap, scientists have combined audio data with aerial surveys and machine-learning tools to count whale populations. A new study published in the journal Endangered Species Research describes how researchers at Cornell University in the U.S. used a combination of these technologies to estimate the abundance of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Cape Cod Bay in the U.S. northeast. While underwater microphones and machine-learning tools were deployed to estimate population, aerial surveys were used to calibrate and verify the data. “It has been challenging to make the leap of faith for using whale calls to signify information beyond presence or absence in an area,” Marissa Garcia, lead author of the study and researcher at the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, told Mongabay in a video interview. “With this research, we are seeking to advance passive acoustic monitoring to address questions beyond just whale presence.” North Atlantic right whales are one of the most threatened whale species in the world, with only 356 individuals estimated to be left. Image courtesy of Center for Coastal Studies; photo taken under the NMFS ESA/MMPA permit No. 19315. North…This article was originally published on Mongabay
The post Counting whales by eavesdropping on their chatter, with help from machine learning first appeared on EnviroLink Network.