Acoustic density modelling in humpback whales

Theme: Environmental Management, Marine Biology and Ocean Science

Description: Monitoring large whale populations by carrying out visual surveys is expensive, time consuming, and highly weather dependent. For this reason, many large whale populations are unmonitored. Acoustic surveys provide an alternative. However, the relationship between what is 'heard' and what is 'there' needs to be established. This project aims to determine if humpback whale density can be predicted using an acoustic survey method. It will use a previously developed model (relating humpback whale calls to visual sightings) developed using early data, when the population was roughly 6,000 whales and determine if this model still holds during later years, when the population had increased to approximately 15,000 whales.

Additional Information: This is primarily a desktop study though there may be an opportunity to contribute to field work (on other humpback projects). The student should be ready to process large datasets and should have a keen interest in bioacoustics and learning to process acoustic data.

Contact: Assoc. Prof. Rebecca Ann Dunlop