Grant: Engage Grants Program

Recent miniaturization of electronic tags and oceanic sampling equipment has allowed for the deployment of sensor technology on large marine animals now known as ""bioprobes"". Bioprobes are generally sharks, tuna, or marine mammals that carry geolocating technology and oceanic sampling equipment. Scientists gain information that is time and location stamped from areas that are biased toward important habitat for these animals. In recent years tags have been developed that sample depth, ambient temperature, light, pH and acceleration. No tag at this time contains a broad band hydrophone for sampling noise in the water column. Determining the ambient noise profile (i.e. caused by tides and currents) and industrially produced noise (i.e. caused by hydro power turbines, or seismic testing or drilling) is now a focal point of environmental impact assessments for coastal industrial deployments in the alternative energy and oil and gas industry. We propose to attach and deploy a small (size of a Pepsi can) broad band acoustic hydrophone produced by Instrument Concepts Inc., a Nova Scotian company, on a large marine animal to develop proper attachment procedures and to regain and examine data recorded during in situ deployments. Instrument Concepts Inc. has deployed their hydrophones in many environments (i.e., VENUS cabled observatory) but has never deployed an instrument on fish or marine mammals. This project will provide them with reliable attachment procedures and devices and quantitative measurements of hydrophone performance. Measurements of hydrophone performance will be fundamental to the development of proper internal signal processing of collected noise data to deal with white noise produced as the hydrophone moves through the water on the animal. If successful, future testing and preliminary research could include deployments in ongoing NSERC funded ""bioprobe"" projects focused on grey seals off Sable Island (PI Dr. Don Bowen, Fisheries and Oceans Canada), an area of oceanic drilling, and on Atlantic sturgeon in the Minas Basin (PI Dr. Michael Stokesbury, Acadia University), an area of tidal power development.