Bioacoustics Research Program

Protecting the World’s Last North Atlantic Right Whales

NOAA

We use our high-tech systems to hear, monitor, and protect endangered North Atlantic right whales. Fewer than 500 of these magnificent animals remain in the world, and they are difficult to see and track as they migrate along the Atlantic seaboard. Our sound-detection systems provide valuable information about the whales’ numbers, locations, and activities along the East Coast. We use this information to understand how whales are affected by disturbance and noise pollution from energy exploration, shipping, and other human activities, and to advise industry and government on how to minimize harm to marine wildlife. In collaboration with other research agencies and the energy industry, we have established a right whale listening network in Massachusetts Bay. This network notifies shipping vessels to slow down when right whales are detected nearby, preventing deadly collisions between whales and ships.

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Advising the Energy Industry on How to Keep Whales Safe

James Hall/Exxon

We use sound to monitor whales and other marine mammals in areas proposed for oil and gas drilling. By detailing the numbers and activity of whales in these areas, we can inform energy companies about how to avoid interfering with the whales’ needs to find food and communicate with one another.

Investigating Noise Pollution in the Ocean

Dmitri Ponirakis/BRP

In the underwater world, whales and many other animals rely on sound to communicate with one another. Yet the ocean is so noisy from shipping vessels, underwater energy exploration and development, sonar exploration, and other human activities that we are drowning out the sounds of whales. Right whales call to one another from 20 miles away or more, but scientists estimate that the area over which whales can hear one another has dropped by 90 percent because of noise pollution. The Bioacoustics Research Program is studying the responses of marine mammals to noise in the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts. In collaboration with international partners, we are also studying the role of noise pollution in the chain of events that lead to atypical mass strandings of beaked whales in the Bahamas.

Listening to the Voices of Endangered Forest Elephants

Peter Wrege/ELP

In the dense forests of Central Africa, endangered forest elephants are difficult to study and protect because they are so difficult to see. We use sound-recording technology to listen for their vocalizations, giving us valuable information about their numbers, movements, and how they communicate with one another. We use this information to improve our understanding of elephants and to ensure their voices are heard in conservation decisions related to logging, hunting, and seismic exploration.

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Creating Automated Devices for Recording Animal Sounds

Danielle Cholewiak/BRP

We develop the technology to remotely record the sounds of animals on land or in the ocean. Our underwater “pop-up” devices record sounds from the ocean floor, then pop up to the surface when the data are ready to be retrieved. Researchers have used pop-ups in more than 20 countries worldwide to monitor the sounds of marine wildlife as well as human-caused noise pollution.

In collaboration with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, we developed an auto-detection buoy system to detect vocalizing right whales in near real-time. This enables us to notify ships of the presence of whales within a 5 nautical mile listening range of the buoy, alerting them to slow down and avoid deadly collisions with these endangered whales.

To record the sounds of animals on land, we developed devices that can be programmed and left in remote locations to record the sounds of rare and elusive wildlife for months at a time. We have used these devices to monitor endangered forest elephants, to detect the presence of endangered Black-capped Vireos and Golden-cheeked Warblers, and to document the calls of migratory songbirds as they migrate overhead at night.

Developing Digital Tools to Analyze Animal Sounds

Raven Lite

We create software applications for biologists and the interested public to visually display, measure, and analyze sounds. With support from the National Science Foundation, we created Raven and Raven Lite, powerful user-friendly research and teaching tools for understanding sounds.

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Sound Analysis Workshops

Susan Spear/Cornell Lab

To help scientists use the latest technologies to study the sounds of wildlife, we offer professional workshops twice per year at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York, and occasionally at other sites in the U.S. and abroad. Our workshops have been attended by participants from more than 30 countries. The next workshop will be run from April 3 to 7, 2017. If you’re interested in attending please contact Liz Rowland, edr6@cornell.edu.

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Sharing the Science of Sound through Exhibits

Tim Krein/BRP

Our Raven Exhibit system visually displays and records wildlife sounds for exhibits in science museums, zoos, aquaria, nature centers, and other educational venues. Raven Exhibit software is used in our popular sound studio in the Visitors’ Center at the Johnson Center for Birds and Biodiversity. To inquire about Raven Exhibit, contact Tish Klein.

Training Future Leaders in Science & Conservation

Danielle Cholewiak/BRP

We engage undergraduates in hands-on research and advise graduate students in bioacoustics research. Our students lead diverse studies, including the effects of noise pollution on marine wildlife, threats to endangered forest elephant populations, and vocal communication among birds.