Bruce Martin hosts OERA Webinar: How Does Sound Travel in High Energy Environments?

How Does Sound Travel in High Energy Environments?
Effectiveness of Acoustic Monitoring Systems and Turbine Audibility Assessment

December 10, 2020

Dr. Bruce Martin, JASCO Applied Sciences (Canada) Ltd

To support tidal energy development in the Bay of Fundy, researchers are designing and implementing a long-term acoustic monitoring program. In preparation, specialized acoustic instrumentation was deployed for two months in Grand Passage to better understand how the turbulent waters affect our ability to detect marine mammals, and to what extent these animals can detect a tidal turbine.

State-of-the-art hydrophones were deployed along with an active source that generated dolphin-like whistles and clicks.

The collected soundscape data are being modelled to explore how low-frequency sounds like dolphin clicks propagate through the turbulent waters. These model results will help us understand how the turbulent flow impacts our ability to detect marine life.

The webinar series was hosted by the Offshore Energy Research Association (OERA).

About OERA

OERA (the Offshore Energy Research Association), is an independent non-profit that facilitates offshore energy and environmental research and development in Nova Scotia. From their website:

We are navigators and collaborators helping Nova Scotia move toward a more sustainable energy future by providing the unbiased information and insight needed to plan a path forward. We are a non-profit organization that serves as an independent and impartial knowledge and capacity builder. We support economic growth in our province by exploring and assessing cleantech opportunities. Our team also enables expert energy research with input from academia, industry, government, regulators and others. Our scope encompasses all energy-related research, including onshore and offshore petroleum, cleantech and renewable energy.