Webinar – Fish Sound Production and Passive Acoustic Monitoring in the Marine Environment, Monika Kosecka (SAMS)
Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) has been successfully used for many years to detect and monitor animal vocal activity, both in terrestrial and marine environments. PAM has been widely used for years in bioacoustics studies of underwater marine organisms such as marine mammals. However, only recently have researchers begun to apply this method to monitor vocally active fish.
More than 800 fish species are known to produce sound, although this probably holds true for many more that have not yet been investigated. Most fish become particularly vocal during the reproduction period, while engaged in mating and aggressive behaviour. This creates an opportunity for acoustics researchers to use sound in fish monitoring, for example to identify their spawning grounds. Although the PAM method has its limitations, it still may serve as a new tool to expand our knowledge of small-scale distribution and ecology of fish.
The talk will outline fish sound production mechanisms, some acoustic characteristics of fish vocalisations and the potential of PAM in fish bioacoustics studies.
Speaker
Monika Kosecka is a PhD Student at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), at the University of Highlands and Islands. She is an oceanographer with a background in marine biology and bioacoustics. She has previously worked both in academia and in consultancy, undertaking research on marine mammal acoustics, underwater ambient noise and its effects on marine life.
Within her PhD project, entitled ‘Passive acoustic monitoring and automated detection of gadoid fish species in marine renewable development areas’, she is investigating sound production in Atlantic cod Gadus morhua, and implementing her findings to create a custom-made automatic cod detector. This tool will enable screening through big acoustic datasets and, she hopes, will help in identifying areas of high importance for this economically valuable and stock depleted fish species.
Registration
To register for this event and the series, click here. If you have already registered for the previous seminar, it is not necessary to register again. This event is free to attend and members of the general public are welcomed. The recording will be made available here on the day.
Early Careers SIG Webinar Series
For information about other seminars in the series, click here.
Crowdcast
This event will be run via the Crowdcast platform. A quick reference guide is available here. More information is available here.
