PROJECTS

In the Pacific the Marine Mammal Monitoring on Navy Ranges (M3R) program maintains systems that automatically detect, classify and localize marine mammals in real-time on the U.S. Navy’s deep-water Southern California Antisubmarine Warfare Range (SOAR) in Southern California and Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) off Hawai’i. Long-term archive data collected on these ranges allows for numerous types of studies on species inhabiting the ranges, including the monitoring of abundance and distribution, behavioral responses to naval activities, and habitat usage. They also provide the opportunity to study ambient noise and soundscapes.

In FY20 the M3R program had six areas of focus for SOAR and PMRF: 1) long‐term data collection and the evaluation of abundance and distribution of Cuvier’s beaked whales at SOAR and Blainville’s beaked whales at PMRF; 2) the effect of two types of mid‐frequency active sonar (MFAS), hull‐mounted and dipping sonar, on Cuvier’s beaked whales at SOAR and Blainville’s beaked whales at PMRF; 3) evaluation of the M3R low‐frequency detector algorithm at SOAR; 4) determination of Autogrouper detection statistics for Blainville’s beaked whales at PMRF; 5) the development of tools to automatically characterize the ambient noise at SOAR using archive files; and 6) the support of on‐site field exercises at SOAR and PMRF with real‐time monitoring using the M3R system.

Beaked whale abundance and vocal behavior were examined at two different U. S. Navy training ranges: for Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris) at the Southern California Anti-Submarine Warfare Range (SOAR) between August 2010 through October 2019, and for Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) between 2015 and 2018. The yearly and monthly abundance, mean number of group vocal periods (GVPs), mean duration of the GVPs in minutes, and the mean number of clicks detected per beaked whale group were calculated.

Cuvier’s beaked whale abundance estimates have been obtained at the U.S. Navy’s Southern California Anti-Submarine Warfare Range (SOAR) for the period from August 2010 through November 2018. Data for December 2018 through January 2019 are currently being processed. The data were corrected for effort and spatial variation by applying correction factors as in DiMarzio et al (2017). Since 2010, the Cuvier’s beaked whale abundance at SOAR appears to be stable or slightly increasing.

In 2016, corrected Cuvier’s beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris, Zc) abundance estimates at SOAR were completed for 2010 -2014. The estimates showed no decline in abundance over this 5-year period on the instrumented Southern California Anti-Submarine Warfare Range (SOAR). In 2017, these estimates were updated with data from 2015 through September of 2017 to provide a yearly estimate from 2010 to 2017. Periods of node or in-water hardware outages in past estimates and new data were isolated. Correction factors for these periods were calculated, and revised abundance estimates were produced. As before, the data do not show a decline in abundance on SOAR over the last eight years.

Monitoring, passive acoustic monitoring, marine mammals, beaked whales, abundance, Hawaii Range Complex, Southern California Range Complex, Pacific Missile Range Facility, Southern California Offshore Range, mid-frequency active sonar

For each of the major Navy ranges, the initial goal is to provide a Marine Mammal Monitoring on Navy Ranges (M3R) system that can be run with minimal operator intervention to collect passive acoustic detection archives on a nearly continuous basis. These archive files provide an electronic record of marine mammal acoustic activity and sonar activity, as well as marine mammal localization data from multiple algorithms with a focus on Blainville’s (Mesoplodon densirostris, Md) and Cuvier’s (Ziphius cavirostris, Zc) beaked whales. As algorithms become available and are incorporated into the system, algorithm-specific reports can be seamlessly integrated into the archives to provide a timesynchronous history of events.

With funding from the Living Marine Resources (LMR) Program, the Marine Mammal Monitoring on Navy Ranges (M3R) passive acoustic monitoring system has been installed at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF). The overall goal of the program is to provide tools and methodologies for long-term monitoring of marine mammal populations. The program is laying the groundwork needed to adapt combined passive acoustic, tagging, and visual monitoring methods for animals and conditions at PMRF. For sonar-sensitive Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris; Md), the short- and long-term distribution, density, and habitat can be measured provided basic behavioral data such as group size and dive rates at PMRF are known.

Via funding from the Living Marine Resource (LMR) program, ONR and U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Marine Mammal Monitoring on Navy Ranges (M3R) program is developing and implementing the requisite tools and methods to assess the long-term effect of Navy operations on cetaceans in the Southern California (SOCAL) Range Complex, particularly those operations using Mid-Frequency Active (MFA) sonar, with a focus on Cuvier’s beaked whales and fin whales.

During FY2012, with funding provided by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) N45 Energy and Environmental Readiness Division, the Marine Mammal Monitoring on Navy Ranges (M3R) program carried out several acoustic monitoring efforts to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of cetacean species on the Southern California Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Range (SOAR) , to document the reaction of these species to sonar with a focus on beaked whales, and to provide a means of longterm passive acoustic monitoring. Specifically, M3R participated in a number of marine mammal species visual verification and tagging tests, ONR-sponsored glider tests, the SOCAL 2011-12 Behavioral Response Study (BRS), and for the first time conducted low-frequency acoustic monitoring of baleen whales.

During January 2012, with funding provided by the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) N45 Energy and Environmental Readiness Division, the Marine Mammal Monitoring on Navy Ranges ( M3R) program supported a marine mammal species verification and satellite tagging test on the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) prior to a Submarine Commander Course (SCC)