Application of (Low-Cost) Drifters with Suspended Hydrophone Arrays to Assess Harbour Porpoise Use of the Water Column and Spatial Overlap with MRE Devices in the Minas Passage

The project investigated the use of a new low-cost drifter technology to monitor the activity and depth distribution of harbour porpoises frequenting the Minas Passage and Minas Channel. Porpoise activity was assessed through the analysis of recently collected field data from a drifter fitted with two synced hydrophones. The researchers conducted a two-day field test using a drifting vertical array of four synchronized hydrophones, equipped with GPS, to quantify how porpoises use the water column in Minas Passage. The project also assessed the utility and practicality of drifters as a viable monitoring platform at time scales of weeks to months for future environmental effects monitoring use.

Team

Principal Investigators:  Dr. Anna Redden and Dr. Brian Sanderson, Acadia University

Date
October 2017 – April 2019
Video