Research

PRESENTER: Lynne Hodge, CPAESS Associate Scientist, Marine Mammal & Turtle Division, NOAA Southeast Fisheries Science Center TITLE: Shipping Noise in the northern Gulf of Mexico between 2010-2021 Summary: The Gulf of Mexico, home to 21 cetacean species including the endangered Rice's whale and sperm whale, has high ambient noise levels dominated by low frequency anthropogenic noise from shipping traffic and seismic surveys. Marine mammals rely heavily on sound to navigate, forage, and communicate and can be negatively impacted by chronic elevated noise levels. Determining ship types and their contributions to soundscape levels provides important information for understanding and reducing impacts from chronic anthropogenic noise sources on marine mammals. Lynne is currently analyzing passive acoustic data and using Automatic Identification System (AIS) data to examine shipping noise in the Gulf of Mexico. The Cooperative Programs for the Advancement of Earth System Science (CPAESS—pronounced: see-pass) is a UCAR Community Programs (UCP) division at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). UCAR manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Our administrative office is located in Boulder, Colorado, USA. CPAESS was created in February 2016, from the merger of two long-established and successful programs: the Joint Office of Science Support (JOSS) and the Visiting Scientist Programs (VSP). CPAESS is providing an extensive portfolio of organization and management services for the broad Earth science community. Our vision and mission complement and mirror the vision and mission of UCAR, including UCP and NCAR. We are collectively working towards the advancement of scientific research for the benefit of society.