Research Portal

Real-Time Detection of Marine Mammals in High Flow Environments

May 2019 – September 2021

The project research goal is to design and test an innovative acoustic sensor system that will feature a wireless magneto-inductive (MI) communications link – to alert users in real time of the presence and location of marine mammals in high noise tidal environments.  The research entails a field

The Pathway Program: Validating reliable environmental monitoring for ocean energy projects

April 2019 – October 2021

OERA created The Pathway Program to solve a critical problem impeding the in-stream tidal energy industry: a lack of reliable and validated technologies and methods to monitor and report fish-turbine interactions in high-flow, highly turbulent environments, leading to regulatory uncertainty and i

Environmental Monitoring System Development

November 2019 – April 2021

The Pathway Program - Technology Validation: Echosouders & Passive Acoustic Monitoring Device

Acceleration/Particle Velocity (PA/PV) Measurement System Evaluation in a Tidal Environment

February 2017 – December 2018

The objective of this project was designing and running a field experiment to test the performance of the Particle Acceleration/Particle Velocity (PA/PV) vector sensor.

Assessing Corrosion, Wear, Fatigue and VIV on Moorings and Cabling to Reduce Risk in Marine Operations

October 2017 – August 2018

The cost of cabling and moorings over the entire life of a tidal energy project is a significant proportion of total project expenditures and the potential failure of these components remains a major risk for the emerging tidal energy sector.

Measuring the Acoustic Detection Range of Large Whales from an Ocean Glider to Improve an Acoustic Whale Alert System for use by the Offshore Marine Industry in Atlantic Canada

April 2017 – January 2018

Researchers investigated a novel and in-development passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) system for use as a marine mammal detection technique. The work builds on a current research initiative between Dalhousie University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI).

3-D Acoustic Tracking of Fish, Sediment-Laden Ice and Large Wood Debris in the Minas Passage of the Bay of Fundy

October 2009 – December 2011

Researchers used VEMCO animal tracking technology to complete in-situ testing of the path, depth and velocity of fish and objects passing through the Minas Passage.

Geoscience » Seismic & Marine Sound

Physics of the Interaction between a Crab and a Seismic Test Pulse – Development of a Mathematical Model and Testing of Model via Simulation

June 2009 – September 2011

Experimental attempts to establish whether seismic testing has any impact on crabs and the crab fishery have been hampered by a lack of theoretical work on the subject.