Eric Spaulding

An autonomous, near‐real‐time buoy system for automatic detection of North Atlantic right whale calls.

A moored buoy system for automatic detection of endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW) upcalls was developed to provide near‐real‐time information on the presence of whales. The marine components include the WHOI buoy platform (mooring, hydrophone, power system, surface expression, and antennae) and Cornell buoy electronics (housing, analog interface hardware, GPS, embedded computer, detection engine, and telemetry hardware). Shore‐side Cornell components include telemetry equipment, server hardware and processing software, database, and interfaces for data annotation, access, and visualization. The buoy hardware/software system is capable of capturing and ranking NARW upcall candidates as 2 s, 2000 Hz sampled audio clips. GPS location, timestamp, and other metadata associated with each audio clip are bundled together and uploaded via satellite for processing. Human analysts regularly annotate incoming data, resulting in a curated database of NARW detections. Periodic “health and status” data allow ...

Automatic Animal Tracking Using Matched Filters and Time Difference of Arrival

A method for tracking animals using a terrestrial system similar to GPS is presented. This system enables simultaneous tracking of thousands of animals with transmitters that are lighter, longer lasting, more accurate and cheaper than other automatic positioning tags. The technical details of this system are discussed and the results of a prototype are shown.

Understanding spatial distributions: negative density-dependence in prey causes predators to trade-off prey quantity with quality

Negative density-dependence is generally studied within a single trophic level, thereby neglecting its effect on higher trophic levels. The ‘functional response’ couples a predators intake rate to prey density. Most widespread is a type II functional response, where intake rate increases asymptotically with prey density; this predicts the highest predator densities at the highest prey densities. In one of the most stringent tests of this generality to date, we measured density and quality of bivalve prey (edible cockles Cerastoderma edule) across 50 km² of mudflat, and simultaneously, with a novel time-of-arrival methodology, tracked their avian predators (red knots Calidris canutus). Because of negative density-dependence in the individual quality of cockles, the predicted energy intake rates of red knots declined at high prey densities (a type IV, rather than a type II functional response). Resource-selection modelling revealed that red knots indeed selected areas of intermediate cockle densities where energy intake rates were maximized given their phenotype-specific digestive constraints (as indicated by gizzard mass). Because negative density-dependence is common, we question the current consensus and suggest that predators commonly maximize their energy intake rates at intermediate prey densities. Prey density alone may thus poorly predict intake rates, carrying capacity and spatial distributions of predators.

Results and insights from operational acoustic monitoring networks.

Data from two acoustic monitoring networks operating off New England in an area frequented by whales reveal acoustic features of those habitats. These seafloor and moored systems continuously sample the acoustic environment, and resultant data provide mechanisms for mapping, quantifying, and describing the spatio‐spectral‐temporal variability of the acoustic habitat over ecologically meaningful scales. By focusing on species‐specific frequency bands used by fin, humpback, and right whales for long‐range communication, we are beginning to measure the acoustic dynamics of their primary communication channels. Results reveal the extent to which different sources of sound in the ocean, both natural and man‐made, influence the probability of whale communication. In some habitats with high rates of vessel traffic and high levels of vessel noise, the predicted area over which animals can communicate is reduced to a small proportion of what it would be under quiet conditions. The dynamics of this masking effect a...

Autonomous seafloor recorders and autodetection buoys to monitor whale activity for long‐term and near‐real‐time applications.

Biologists and engineers from Cornell have installed arrays of autonomous seafloor recorders in multiple ocean habitats. These systems are designed to continuously monitor for the occurrence of endangered whales, particularly right whales; provide critical data on whale seasonal occurrence, distribution and relative numbers; and evaluate potential noise impacts from manmade activities and commercial shipping. Recent studies have been conducted in Massachusetts Bay around commercial LNG ports, the Arctic Ocean at seismic study locations, and in New York waters extending to the shelf edge. In combination with Cornell‐developed MATLAB‐ and JAVA‐based software applications, these seafloor recorders have been utilized to evaluate seasonal whale presence, calculate levels of commercial shipping and construction noise, and locate and track the movements and behaviors of individual whales under different acoustic conditions. Cornell and ocean engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have installed ...

Flexible infrastructure for near-real-time acoustic monitoring of right whales and other marine species

The Bioacoustics Research Program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has developed a modular hardware and software system for near-real-time acoustic monitoring of marine animals. The system provides a framework for deploying acoustic detection algorithms and for processing and distributing detection output, allowing shore-side clients to assess the presence and track the movements of these animals at sea. Near-real-time event reporting makes the system useful in noise pollution mitigation and ship strike reduction applications.