138: Marine Mammals and Aquatic Soundscapes with Denise Risch

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There is an entire world hidden under the surface of the ocean and, as the common saying goes, we know more about space than we do about the deep ocean. We are even less aware that there is a rich and diverse underwater landscape of sounds. With modern technology and data analysis methods we can now record those sounds and use them to learn about the creatures living in the ocean.

To introduce this topic, in this episode I am joined by Dr Denise Risch, who specialises in marine acoustic ecology with a focus on the acoustic behaviour of marine mammals. After a general discussion about marine soundscapes and ecology, we dive deeper (pun intended) into the Marine Mammals work package in the COMPASS project. Denise and her colleagues develop and implement a passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) program for marine mammals, cetaceans and pinnipeds, for a cross-border network of Marine Protected Areas.

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