We are leading the marine mammal and seabird components of a long-term monitoring program in the New York Bight funded by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. We conduct seasonal line transect surveys for seabirds, photo-ID studies of cetaceans, and Unoccupied Aerial System (UAS), or drone, studies of large whales to assess body size and body condition. We are also adding passive acoustic recorders (DMONs) to our project’s Slocum gliders in order to provide real-time detections of baleen whales during glider surveys.

The broader monitoring project focuses on developing and monitoring ecosystem indicators for the New York Bight, and includes sampling of temperature, salinity, fluorescence, carbonate chemistry, as well as zooplankton and fish trawls and fisheries acoustics from ship-based and gliders. This project is a collaboration between our lab and the labs of Drs Charlie Flagg, Jack McSweeney, Janet Nye and Joe Warren.