Project Objectives

Determine what species of marine mammals and sea turtles are present and estimate abundance.

Project Objectives

Identify species of beaked whales, odontocetes, and baleen whales that occur in the Mariana Islands; Monitor marine mammal and sea turtle presence, distribution, and diversity in nearshore waters during key seasons (summer and winter); Develop a better understanding of marine mammal distribution, movement patterns, habitat use, population structure, and abundance; Develop reference library of visually-validated acoustic recordings of marine mammals.

Project Objectives

(1) define the spatial movement and habitat use patterns of species that are exposed to mid-frequency active (MFA) sonar (2) determine how these patterns influence exposure and potential responses