The debate about the effect of manmade noise on marine life rages on, and seismic contractors question the validity of stopping operations when whales and dolphins are near since those animals often seem interested in what’s going on. Studies have been undertaken to track whales and try to better understand their behavior, but this research is stymied by sample size and the sheer number of variables involved in any animal study.

A new technology has the promise to appease both the industry and the conservationists who argue on behalf of marine wildlife. Called Listening to the Deep Ocean (LIDO), the objective is to implement technological developments that address the interests of industry while ensuring the protection of the environmental conditions of the oceans. It accomplishes this through a simple concept – listening to the ocean.

A sperm whale’s movements are tracked using the LIDO acoustic system. (Image courtesy of Dr. Michel Andre)

LIDO operates with a set of buoys outfitted with acoustic sensors. The sensors are constantly live, listening to the sounds beneath the waves. When sounds are detected, the buoys collect the information and relay it to shore or to a vessel or platform.

The guts of the program is a sophisticated software system that can, in real time, decipher the data and provide the depth, location, and species of the animal making the noise. This data output is put on the Internet where the public can see it ( Listentothedeep.com ).

According to Dr. Michel Andre, LIDO project coordinator, the project began by equipping existing observatories that were set up for geohazard detection, but the offshore industry has always been the target. Now the systems can be deployed on platforms and seismic vessels.

“The idea is not only to measure noise and understand on a global scale how it is affecting the whales and dolphins,” he said. “It is also to provide the offshore industry with a solution so that they have a clear image of which animals are in the vicinity and can mitigate their activities.”

Currently many governments require seismic vessels to have human monitors on board who can stop activity when whales are sighted. This system is extremely imprecise for several reasons – the animal has to come near the surface to be spotted, animals can only be spotted relatively short distances away, and darkness and inclement weather make spotting animals more difficult (currently operations are not allowed in these conditions).

“Our system gives, in real time, the source and position of the animal,” Andre said. “It can operate at night or in very poor weather conditions. And it can detect sound sources up to 8 km (5 miles) away, a distance that is considered safe for sensitive species.”

It’s also useful in the ongoing study of marine mammal behavior, he said. “We will get a better idea of how animals react, whether or not they get used to the sound, and how long they might leave the area,” Andre said.

To Andre, the LIDO system can accomplish what is often so difficult in the E&P industry – a win-win for industry and the environment ( Sonsetc.com ). “I am convinced that this is the key to combining the interests of the offshore community and the conservationists,” he said. “This is using technology to make a better world.”

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