Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has developed significantly over the last 20 years and hydrophones are now being deployed in more locations, more often, by more people, than ever before. To celebrate the increasing breadth of the application of PAM around the world, and help promote public awareness of Ocean Sound to an increasingly interested global community, a new initiative has proposed a celebration of aquatic PAM on World Oceans Day (June 8).
Through the Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds (GLUBS), a call has gone out to hydrophone operators for their interest to participate in a World Oceans Passive Acoustic Monitoring (WOPAM) Day. The premise for the first year of this initiative is simple; to share data from any already planned deployments recording on June 8th for a collaborative study of our global aquatic soundscapes, whether in salt, brackish or freshwater.
So, if you already have a hydrophone in the water, that will be recording on June 8 (or have a planned project to deploy before then), and are interested in participating in WOPAM Day, please contact Miles Parsons (m.parsons@aims.gov.au) or Steve Simpson (s.simpson@bristol.ac.uk) for further information.