Passive acoustic monitoring of Gulf of Maine waters is a critical aspect of understanding long term changes in North Atlantic right whale (NARW) presence and distribution within this region. An improved understanding of the presence of this species is needed in order to better monitor changes in distribution patterns and occurrence of this endangered species as well as to help understand where the risk of entanglement in fishing gear and ship strike may occur. These raw passive acoustic data will help develop mitigation strategies required by the U.S. by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. The objective of this project is to maintain a passive acoustic monitoring network in inshore Gulf of Maine waters for at least 5 years.

Bryde’s whales, Balaenoptera edeni, are the only year-round resident baleen whale in the Gulf of Mexico, have an estimated abundance of 33 individuals (CV 1.07) in the Gulf of Mexico population, and are found within a restricted range near the De Soto Canyon in the northeastern Gulf. Based on their localized distribution, low abundance, and recent evidence that this population represents a unique evolutionary lineage and exhibits very low levels of genetic diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has petitioned NMFS to list the Gulf of Mexico Bryde’s whale as an endangered species and define critical habitat to enhance their protection. The NRDC highlights the high levels of anthropogenic noise from shipping and seismic surveys in the Gulf of Mexico as a major stressor. Historical whaling records found balaenopterids, most likely Bryde’s whales, throughout a broader area than their currently known range, including the western and central portions of the northern Gulf of Mexico, though sightings are now rare in this region, despite substantial effort. Autonomous passive acoustic methods are the most successful tool for finding rare whale species in areas where they occur infrequently and areas where they were historically sighted by whalers. The objectives of this study are to collect passive acoustic data for use in investigations of 1) Bryde’s whale occurrence and distribution, and 2) ambient noise conditions in the western Gulf of Mexico. We deployed 5 calibrated autonomous acoustic instruments over a one year period from June 2016 – June 2017 along the 200 m isobaths throughout the western Gulf of Mexico predicted Bryde’s whale habitat. This will provide data to investigate whether, where, and when Bryde’s whales occupy this habitat and will be useful in designating critical habitat if this species is listed under the ESA. By using calibrated instruments, an additional goal will be to obtain data to characterize the ambient sound environment at these sites to determine whether acute or chronic anthropogenic noise sources pose a risk to this species.

This record represents north atlantic right whale sound production detected from raw passive acoustic data. The Low Frequency Detection and Classification System (LFDCS) call library for right whale low-frequency modulated upsweep (upcall) was used for the data. All North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) upcall detections with a Mahalanobis distance less than or equal to 3.0 were manually screened due to variability in NARW upcalls and overlap with other species’ vocalizations, such as upsweeps produced by humpback whales. A given day was marked as having NARWs present if three or more true upcall detections. These data were recorded at SanctSound site SB02_03 between April 2, 2019 and June 1, 2019.

This record represents North Atlantic right whale (NARW) sound production detected from raw passive acoustic data. The Low Frequency Detection and Classification System (LFDCS) call library for right whale low-frequency modulated upsweep (upcall) was used for the data. All NARW upcall detections with a Mahalanobis distance less than or equal to 3.0 were manually screened due to variability in NARW upcalls and overlap with other species’ vocalizations, such as upsweeps produced by humpback whales. A given day was marked as having NARWs present if three or more true upcall detections. These data were recorded at SanctSound Site SB02_03 between April 02, 2019 and June 01, 2019.

This record represents north atlantic right whale sound production detected from raw passive acoustic data. The Low Frequency Detection and Classification System (LFDCS) call library for right whale low-frequency modulated upsweep (upcall) was used for the data. All North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) upcall detections with a Mahalanobis distance less than or equal to 3.0 were manually screened due to variability in NARW upcalls and overlap with other species’ vocalizations, such as upsweeps produced by humpback whales. A given day was marked as having NARWs present if three or more true upcall detections. These data were recorded at SanctSound site SB03_03 between April 2, 2019 and June 1, 2019.

This record represents North Atlantic right whale (NARW) sound production detected from raw passive acoustic data. The Low Frequency Detection and Classification System (LFDCS) call library for right whale low-frequency modulated upsweep (upcall) was used for the data. All NARW upcall detections with a Mahalanobis distance less than or equal to 3.0 were manually screened due to variability in NARW upcalls and overlap with other species’ vocalizations, such as upsweeps produced by humpback whales. A given day was marked as having NARWs present if three or more true upcall detections. These data were recorded at SanctSound Site SB03_03 between April 02, 2019 and June 01, 2019.

This record represents north atlantic right whale sound production detected from raw passive acoustic data. The Low Frequency Detection and Classification System (LFDCS) call library for right whale low-frequency modulated upsweep (upcall) was used for the data. All North Atlantic Right Whale (NARW) upcall detections with a Mahalanobis distance less than or equal to 3.0 were manually screened due to variability in NARW upcalls and overlap with other species’ vocalizations, such as upsweeps produced by humpback whales. A given day was marked as having NARWs present if three or more true upcall detections. These data were recorded at SanctSound site SB02_02 between January 28, 2019 and April 2, 2019.

This record represents North Atlantic right whale (NARW) sound production detected from raw passive acoustic data. The Low Frequency Detection and Classification System (LFDCS) call library for right whale low-frequency modulated upsweep (upcall) was used for the data. All NARW upcall detections with a Mahalanobis distance less than or equal to 3.0 were manually screened due to variability in NARW upcalls and overlap with other species’ vocalizations, such as upsweeps produced by humpback whales. A given day was marked as having NARWs present if three or more true upcall detections. These data were recorded at SanctSound Site SB02_02 between January 28, 2019 and April 02, 2019.

This record represents North Atlantic right whale (NARW) sound production detected from raw passive acoustic data. The Low Frequency Detection and Classification System (LFDCS) call library for right whale low-frequency modulated upsweep (upcall) was used for the data. All NARW upcall detections with a Mahalanobis distance less than or equal to 3.0 were manually screened due to variability in NARW upcalls and overlap with other species’ vocalizations, such as upsweeps produced by humpback whales. A given day was marked as having NARWs present if three or more true upcall detections. These data were recorded at SanctSound Site SB03_02 between January 28, 2019 and April 02, 2019.

This record represents North Atlantic right whale (NARW) sound production detected from raw passive acoustic data. The Low Frequency Detection and Classification System (LFDCS) call library for right whale low-frequency modulated upsweep (upcall) was used for the data. All NARW upcall detections with a Mahalanobis distance less than or equal to 3.0 were manually screened due to variability in NARW upcalls and overlap with other species’ vocalizations, such as upsweeps produced by humpback whales. A given day was marked as having NARWs present if three or more true upcall detections. These data were recorded at SanctSound Site SB01_03 between April 10, 2019 and June 01, 2019.