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Open Access Underwater Acoustics Data

Provides information and links to open access acoustic data that could be useful to the SIGUA community.

Updated Jan-2023 by Nick Felgate. Previous version dated May 2021 available here.

Members are encouraged to contact underwater@acoustics.ac.uk with additional information that could be added to the list and with missing data sources that could be added.

 

Labelled Online Acoustic Data Sets

General Data Sets

(Typically 1-2 examples per source)

Discovery of Sound in the Sea (DOSITS)

  • Signatures :
    • various vessels
    • various natural physical processes
    • dolphin (common, Risso’s, Pacific white-sided, Indo-Pacific humpback, Australian humpback, pantropical spotted, spinner, rough-toothed, common bottlenose, Chinese River, Amazon River(
    • toothed whale (killer, melon-headed, false killer, beluga, narwhal, sperm)
    • porpoise (Indo-Pacific finless, harbour, Dall’s)
    • beaked whale (Blainville’s)
    • baleen whale (minke, sei, Bryde’s, blue, fin, humpback, bowhead, southern right, North Atlantic right, gray)
    • true seal (hooded, bearded, grey, ribbon, leopard, Weddell, crabeater, Hawaiian monk, Ross, harbour, ringed)
    • other marine mammals (California sea lion, walrus, West Indian manatee)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : ONR, NOAA, NSF (US)
  • Data Link : https://dosits.org/
  • License: Mixed
  • References : K. J. Vigness-Raposa, G. Scowcroft, J. H. Miller, and D. Ketten, “Discovery of Sound in the Sea: An Online Resource,” New York, NY, 2012: Springer New York, in The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life, pp. 135-138, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-7311-5_30
  • Comments

Sounds Recorded in Glacier Bay, Alaska

  • Signatures: humpback whale, killer whale, harbour seals, seabirds, a variety of surface vessel sounds and a variety of surface physical noises
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-directional hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : bottom-mounted
  • Region(s) : Glacier Bay, Alaska
  • Organisation : US National Park Service
  • Data Link : https://www.nps.gov/glba/learn/nature/soundclips.htm
  • License : Unknown (possibly CC-BY because US Federal Funding)
  • References :
  • Comments :

DolphinEar

  • Signatures: single examples of humpback whale, “dolphin” whistles, snapping shrimp, boat engine/propellers, “sea serpent”?!, US Navy LFAS Test
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-directional hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : suspended
  • Region(s) : unknown
  • Organisation : DolphinEar recording device manufacturer
  • Data Link : https://dolphinearglobal.com/listen/
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments :

Historic Naval Sound and Video (HNSV)

  • Signatures:
    • anthropogenic (WWII-era submarines, surface ships, topedo and sonar)
    • meteorlogical (rain squall, light rain, ice flow)
    • geological (earthquake)
    • fish (drum, snapping shrimp, croaker, garabaldi)
    • dolphin (common bottlenose)
    • toothed whale (killer, beluga, sperm, pilot)
    • baleen (humpback, gray)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : sonobuoy, omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : San Francisco Maritime National Park Association
  • Data Link : https://maritime.org/sound/
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments :

A Collection of Sounds from the Sea, NOAA

  • Signatures:
    • anthropogenic (surface ships, airguns)
    • geological (earthquakes, volcanic tremors)
    • baleen whale (blue, humpback, fin, minke)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Data Link : https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/sound01/background/seasounds/seasounds.html#Anchor-30036
  • License : Unknown (possibly CC-BY since US Federal Funding)
  • References :
  • Comments :

SanctSound, NOAA

  • Signatures:
    • fish (Atlantic midshipman, Bocaccio, cod, damselfish, black grouper, haddock, fish chorus)
    • whale (blue, fin, gray, humpback, minke, right)
    • “dolphin”
    • meteorological (hurricanes, rain, wind, waves)
    • anthropogenic (echosounders, explosions, pingers, scuba bubbles, seal Bombs, sonars, vessels)
    • “background noise”
  • Frequency Band(s):20-24000 Hz
  • Sensor Type(s): Static and Autonomous hydrophones (the same hydrophone was used in all cases)
  • Platform(s):
  • Region(s):Pacific (Papahanaumokuakea, Hawaii, Monterey Bay, Channel Islands, Olympic coast) North Atlantic (Stellwagen bank, Gray’s reef, Florida Keys)
  • Organisation: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Data Link: https://sanctsound.ioos.us/index.html
  • License : Unknown (possibly CC-BY since US Federal Funding)
  • References:
  • Comments: Software for analysis provided

Ocean Conservation Research

  • Signatures:
    • anthropogenic (acoustic harassment devices, wind turbine, underwater communications, LF & MF sonar, seafloor mapping sonar, airguns)
    • fish (Atlantic croaker, bar jack, barred grunt, black drum, midshipman, oyster toadfish, perch, scalyfin corvina, snapping shrimp)
    • dolphin (Risso’s)
    • toothed whale (killer, pilot, right, beluga, sperm)
    • beaked whale (Cuvier’s)
    • baleen whale (minke, humpback, gray)
    • true seal (grey, leopard, Weddell, harbour, ringed)
    • other marine mammal (walrus)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : The Ocean Foundation
  • Data Link : https://ocr.org/sound-library/
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments :

Biological Acoustic Data Sets

Watkin’s Marine Mammal Sound Database

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (Commerson’s, Heaviside’s, common, Risso’s, Fraser’s, Atlantic white-sided, white-beaked, Peale’s, Pacific white-sided, dusky, southern right whale, Irrawaddy, tucuxi, Indo-Pacific humpback, pantropical spotted, Clymene, striped, Atlantic spotted, spinner, rough-tooted, common bottlenose, Indo-Pacific finless, Amazon River)
    • toothed whale (short-finned pilot, long-finned pilot, killer, beluga, narwhal, sperm)
    • beaked whale (Cuvier’s)
    • porpoise (harbour, Dall’s)
    • baleen whale (minke, sei, blue, fin, humpback, bowhead, southern right, North Atlantic right, gray)
    • true seal (hooded, bearded, grey, ribbon, leopard, Weddell, crabeater, northern elephant, Ross, harp, spotted, harbour, ringed)
    • eared seal (New Zealand fur, Juan Fernandez fur, northern fur, Stellar sea lion, South American sea lion, California sea lion
    • other marine mammals (walrus, sea otter, West Indian manatee)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), US.
  • Data Link : https://cis.whoi.edu/science/B/whalesounds/index.cfm
  • License: CC-BY
  • Reference(s) : L. Sayigh et al., “The Watkins Marine Mammal Sound Database: An online, freely accessible resource,” Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, vol. 27, no. 1, p. 040013, 2016, doi: https://doi.org/10.1121/2.0000358
  • Comments :

Macaulay Library

  • Signatures:
    • dolphin (Risso’s, white-beaked, Pacific white-side, northern right whale, striped, common bottlenose)
    • toothed whale (long-finned pilot, killer, sperm)
    • porpoise (harbour)
    • beaked whale (northern bottlenose, Cuvier’s)
    • baleen whale (minke, sei, blue, fin, humpback, bowhead, gray)
    • true seal (grey, harbour)
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Cornell University, US.
  • Data Link : https://www.macaulaylibrary.org/
  • License: Copyright Cornell University, written permission
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments : Difficult to assess full scope of marine mammal datasets as priority of collection is birds. Various baleen whale species certainly included.

Animal Sound Archive (Tierstimmenarchiv)

  • Signatures: killer whale, common bottlenose dolphin and West Indian manatee.
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany.
  • Data Link : https://www.tierstimmenarchiv.de/
  • License: Unknown, possibly various.
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments : Possibly dolphin and manatee recorded in a pool within Nürnberg Zoo, Germany.

British Library: Wildlife and Environmental Sounds

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (common, Risso’s, Fraser’s. Atlantic white-sided, white-beaked, Pacific white-side, dusky, Atlantic humpback, striped, Atlantic spotted, common bottlenose, Indus river, Amazon River)
    • toothed whale (pygmy killer, short-finned pilot, long-finned pilot, killer, beluga, narwhal, sperm)
    • porpoise (harbour)
    • baleen whale (blue, fin, humpback, bowhead, North Atlantic right, gray)
    • true seal (bearded, grey, leopard, crabeater, harp, harbour)
    • other marine mammal (California sea lion, walrus)
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : British Library
  • Data Link : https://sounds.bl.uk/Environment/British-wildlife-recordings
  • License : Unknown, possibly various.
  • References :
  • Comments : Catalogue only online

Sonothèque

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (Ganges river dolphin)
    • toothed whale (sperm)
    • baleen (fin, humpback)
    • walrus
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Muséum National d’Histoire naturelle (MHHN), France
  • Data Link : https://sonotheque.mnhn.fr/
  • License : Most CC-BY-NC-ND
  • References :
  • Comments

Fonoteca Zoológica (FonoZoo)

  • Signatures : short-finned pilot whale, bottlenose dolphin, South American fur seal
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Spain
  • Data Link : https://www.fonozoo.com/index_eng.php?
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : NO CUTS ONLINE, AVALIABLE ON REQUEST

Fish Sounds Collection

  • Signatures: 153 species of fish from the Western North Atlantic.
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Graduate School of Oceanography, The University of Rhode Island
  • Data Link : https://web.uri.edu/gso/research/fish-sounds/
  • References : “Sounds of Western North Atlantic Fishes: A Reference file of Biological Underwater Sounds”, John Hopkins Press, 1970 ISBN 8018-1130-9.
  • License : Direct License by University of Rhode Island.
  • Comments : NOT ONLINE, AVAILABLE ON REQUEST FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS. Compiled by Marie P. Fish and William H. Mowbray between 1950 and 1970

FishSounds

  • Signatures: 130 fish species.
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Canada Foundation for Innovation, MERIDIAN
  • Data Link : https://fishsounds.net/
  • License : CC-BY-NC
  • References :
  • Comments :

Rountree’s Fish Library

  • Signatures: Various fish species, some marine, some freshwater
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Rodney Rountree
  • Data Link : http://www.fishecology.org/soniferous/Fish%20Sound%20Library.htm
  • License : All rights reserved
  • References :
  • Comments : Most sounds captured out of water in small container.

Rountree’s Aquatic Animal Sound Library

  • Signatures: Small collection of sounds from aquatic animals, some marine, some freshwater
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Rodney Rountree
  • Data Link : http://www.fishecology.org/soniferous/Other%20Sound%20Library.htm
  • License : All rights reserved
  • References :
  • Comments :

MobySound

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (Risso’s, white-beaked, Pacific white-sided, northern right whale, striped, common bottlenose
    • toothed whale (long-finned pilot, killer)
    • beaked whale (northern bottlenose, Cuvier’s)
    • porpoise (harbour)
    • baleen whale (minke, sei, blue, fin, humpback, bowhead, gray)
    • true seal (grey, harbour)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies (CIMRS), a joint venture between Oregon State University and NOAA/PMEL, USA
  • Data Link : https://www.mobysound.org/index.html
  • License : CC-BY
  • References :
  • Comments : Possibly site no longer exists (10/01/2024)

Educational Biological Websites

(Typically 1-2 examples per species and/or vocalization type)

Voices in the Sea (VITS)

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (Atlantic spotted, spinner, common bottlenose, Amazon River)
    • toothed whale (beluga, narwhal, sperm, pygmy/dwarf sperm)
    • porpoise (harbour, vaquita, Dall’s)
    • beaked whale (Baird’s, northern bottlenose, Cuvier’s)
    • baleen whale (minke, Bryde’s, blue, fin, humpback, bowhead, Northern Atlantic right, North Pacific right, gray)
    • true seal (bearded, ribbon, leopard, Weddell, crabeater, ringed)
    • other marine mammals (California sea lion, walrus)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : University of California, San Diego, USA.
  • Data Link : https://voicesinthesea.ucsd.edu/
  • License : Unknown, VITS Copyright.
  • References :
  • Comments

Avisoft

  • Signatures : killer whale, bottlenose dolphin
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Unknown
  • Platform(s) : Unknown
  • Region(s) : Unknown
  • Organisation : avisoft.com
  • Data Link : http://www.avisoft.com/animal-sounds/
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments :

NOAA – Sounds In the Ocean: Mammals

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (common, Risso’s, Atlantic white-sided. humpback, white-beaked, striped Atlantic spotted, common bottlenose)
    • toothed whale (killer, pilot, beluga, sperm)
    • porpoise (harbour)
    • beaked whale (northern bottlenose, True’s, Cuvier’s)
    • baleen whale (minke, sei, blue, fin, humpback, North Atlantic right)
    • true seal (bearded, grey, leopard, Weddell, crabeater, Ross, harp, harbour)
    • eared seal (northern fur)
    • walrus
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : NOAA Fisheries
  • Data Link : https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/science-data/sounds-ocean-mammals
  • License: Unknown (possibly CC-BY as US Federal Funding)
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

NOAA Fisheries – Southwest Acoustic Ecology Lab

  • Signatures :
    • toothed whale (sperm, pilot)
    • beaked whale (Baird’s)
    • baleen whale (humpback, minke)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Central and East North Pacific
  • Organisation : NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Ecology Lab
  • Data Link : https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/west-coast/science-data/southwest-acoustic-ecology-lab
  • References :
  • License : Unknown (possibly CC-BY as US Federal Funding)
  • Comments : Multimedia links to YouTube

Centro Interdisciplinare di Bioacustica e Ricerche Ambientali (CIBRA)

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (striped, bottlenose, common, Risso’s)
    • toothed whale (sperm, long-finned pilot)
    • baleen whale (fin)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Various
  • Organisation : Università degli Studi di Pavia, Italy
  • Data Link : http://www-3.unipv.it/cibra/edu_medsounds_uk.html
  • License: Copyright CIBRA, written permission
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

Marine Mammals Bioaustic (MMB) of Australia and Antarctica

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (common, Risso’s, Fraser’s, Australian snubfin, striped, spinner, Indo-Pacific bottlenose, common bottlenose)
    • toothed whale (pygmy killer, short-finned pilot, long-finned pilot, killer, false killer, sperm, dwarf sperm)
    • beaked (Arnoux’s)
    • baleen whale (minke, Antarctic minke, Bryde’s, Omura’s, fin, humpback, southern right, pygmy right)
    • true seal (leopard, Weddell, crabeater, southern elephant, Ross)
    • eared seal (New Zealand fur, Antarctic fur, Australian sea lion)
    • other marine mammal (dugong)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Australia, Antarctica
  • Organisation : Curtin University, Australia
  • Data Link : http://cmst.curtin.edu.au/research/marine-mammal-bioacoustics/
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) : C. Erbe et al., “Review of Underwater and In-Air Sounds Emitted by Australian and Antarctic Marine Mammals,” Acoustics Australia, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 179-241, 2017/08/01 2017, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40857-017-0101-z
  • Comments :

Labelled Biological Datasets

Detection, Classification and Localisation (DCL) Workshop, Halifax, 2003

  • Signatures: right whale
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-directional hydrophones
  • Platform(s) : 5 x Ocean Bottom Hydrophone (OBH) units
  • Region(s) : Bay of Fundy, Canada
  • Organisation :
  • Data Link : https://www.mobysound.org/workshops.html
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : Possibly MobySound site no longer exists (10/01/2024)

Detection, Classification and Localisation (DCL) Workshop, Monaco, 2005

  • Signatures: sperm whale clicks
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-directional hydrophones
  • Platform(s) : 2 x groups of bottom- mounted hydrophones
  • Region(s) : Bahamas, Western North Atlantic Ocean
  • Organisation :
  • Data Link : https://www.mobysound.org/workshops.html
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : Possibly MobySound site no longer exists (10/01/2024)

Detection, Classification and Localisation (DCL) Workshop, Boston, 2007

  • Signatures: short-finned pilot whale, Risso’s dolphin, Blainville’s beaked whale
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-directional hydrophones
  • Platform(s) : bottom- mounted hydrophones
  • Region(s) : AUTEC Noise Range, Bahamas, Western North Atlantic Ocean
  • Organisation :
  • Data Link : https://www.mobysound.org/workshops.html
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : Possibly MobySound site no longer exists (10/01/2024)

Detection, Classification and Localisation (DCL) & Density Estimation(DE) Workshops, Pavia, 2009

  • Signatures: 1-Cuvier’s beaked whale; 2-dolphin & toothed whale; 3-sperm whale clicks & possibly Cuvier’s beaked whale clicks
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : 1&2-omni-directional hydrophone pair; 3- tetrahedral omnidirectional array
  • Platform(s) : 1&2-surface tow, 3-bottom-mounted
  • Region(s) : 1-Alboran Sea, Mediterranean; 2- ; 3-East Coast Sicily, Mediterranean
  • Organisation :
  • Data Link : https://www.mobysound.org/workshops.html
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : Possibly MobySound site no longer exists (10/01/2024)

Detection, Classification, Localisation and Density Estimation (DCLDE) Workshop, Mt Hood, 2011

  • Signatures: 1- dolphin (common, bottlenose, spinner), melon-headed whale; 2-Pacific minke whale
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) :
  • Platform(s) :
  • Region(s) : 1-Southern Californian Bight & Palmyra Atoll, Pacific Ocean; 2-Pacific
  • Organisation :
  • Data Link : https://www.mobysound.org/workshops_p2.html
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : Possibly MobySound site no longer exists (10/01/2024)

Detection, Classification, Localisation and Density Estimation (DCLDE) Workshop, St Andrews, 2013

Detection, Classification, Localisation and Density Estimation (DCLDE) Workshop, San Diego, 2015

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (Risso’s, Pacific white-sided)
    • toothed whale (sperm)
    • beaked whale (Baird’s, Cuvier’s)
    • baleen whale (blue, fin)
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : High-frequency Acoustic Recording Packages (HARP)
  • Platform(s) :
  • Region(s) : southern and central coast of California, North-Eastern Pacific
  • Organisation :
  • Data Link : https://www.cetus.ucsd.edu/dclde/datasetEvaluation.html
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments :

Detection, Classification, Localisation and Density Estimation (DCLDE) Workshop, Paris, 2018

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (Risso’s, Atlantic white side)
    • toothed whale (short-finned pilot)
    • beaked whale (Sowerby’s, Gervais’, Cuvier’s)
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : High-frequency Acoustic Recording Packages (HARP)
  • Platform(s) :
  • Region(s) : Eastern Coast US & Gulf of Mexico
  • Organisation :
  • Data Link : http://sabiod.lislab.fr/DCLDE/challenge.html#datasetDocumentation
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : LINKS TO ACOUSTIC DATA BROKEN ON PAGE

Dyni Odontocete Click Classification Challenge (DOCC10), 2020

  • Signatures : (as DCLDE, Paris, 2018 plus sperm whale clicks)
    • dolphin (Risso’s, Atlantic white side)
    • toothed whale (short-finned pilot, sperm)
    • beaked whale (Sowerby’s, Gervais’, Cuvier’s)
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : High-frequency Acoustic Recording Packages (HARP)
  • Platform(s) :
  • Region(s) : Eastern Coast US & Gulf of Mexico
  • Organisation :
  • Data Link : https://challengedata.ens.fr/challenges/32
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : CHALLENGE FINISHED SO UNCLEAR IF DATA STILL AVAILABLE

Detection, Classification, Localisation and Density Estimation (DCLDE) Workshop, Oahu, 2022

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (Risso’s, Fraser’s, pantropical spotted, striped, rough-toothed
    • toothed whale (pygmy killer, short-finned pilot, melon-headed, sperm)
    • baleen whale (minke)
    • beaked whale (Longman’s, Blainville’s, Cuvier’s)
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : Towed 2 hydrophone aperture
  • Platform(s) : Surface Vessel
  • Region(s) : Hawaii EEZ, Pacific
  • Organisation : SOEST, Hawaii
  • Data Link : http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/ore/dclde/dataset/
  • License : Unknown
  • References : K. M. Yano et al., “Cetacean and Seabird Data Collected During the Hawaiian Islands Cetacean and Ecosystem Assessment Survey (HICEAS), July–December 2017,” Technical Memorandum 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.25923/7avn-gw82
  • Comments :

Detection, Classification, Localisation and Density Estimation (DCLDE) Workshop, Rotterdam, 2024

  • Signatures: North Atlantic right whale
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : DIFAR and omnidirectional
  • Platform(s) : 2 x sonobuoy fields
  • Region(s) : Eastern Coast US & Gulf of Mexico
  • Organisation :
  • Data Link : http://www.dclde2024.com/data-sets/
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments :

Orchive Dataset

  • Signatures: Passive from various marine mammal species.
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : Hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Orca calls + samples of shipping
  • Region(s) : North East Pacific
  • Organisation : University of Victoria/OrcaLab
  • Data Link : http://orchive.cs.uvic.ca/
  • References :
  • License : Unknown
  • Comments : APPEARS TO BE LONGER AVAILABLE (15 Dec 2023). This is a very dirty dataset and requires cleaning if one wishes to use. Some data is of much higher quality and there exist a trimmed version in addition to a long form version. It is recommended that in training a ML model on this that one is cautious about which files are chosen. The extended dataset can act as a very challenging test set for any Bio classifying model.

FRDR – Acoustic recordings of North Atlantic right whale upcalls in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

  • Signatures: North Atlantic right whale
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) :
  • Platform(s) :
  • Region(s) : Gulf of St. Lawrence, Gulf of Maine
  • Organisation : Digital Research Alliance of Canada
  • Data Link : https://www.frdr-dfdr.ca/repo/dataset/4a3113e6-1d58-6bb4-aaf2-a9adf75165be
  • License : Unknown
  • References : O. S. Kirsebom, F. Frazao, Y. Simard, N. Roy, S. Matwin, and S. Giard, “Performance of a deep neural network at detecting North Atlantic right whale upcalls,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 147, no. 4, pp. 2636-2646, 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0001132
  • Comments : The software developed as part of this work is available on Zenodo (doi:10.5281/zenodo.3736625) under a GPLv3 license. This includes Python scripts for building training and test datasets, computing signal-to-noise ratios, visualizing spectrograms, training the deep neural network, and using the network to analyze continuous audio recordings.

UVic/Barkley Canyon Dataset

  • Signatures :
    • dolphin (Risso’s, Pacific white-side, northern right whale)
    • toothed whale (killer, sperm)
    • baleen whale (sei, blue, fin, humpback, Northern Pacific right, gray)
  • Frequency Band(s) : 1 Hz – 44.1 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : Hydrophone (multiple deployments)
  • Platform(s) : Variety of marine mammals
  • Region(s) : North East Pacific
  • Organisation : University of Victoria
  • Data Link : https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rT1IV7YVKh6a67LKsxmrdW1B4MzIOs4g
  • License : Unknown
  • References : K. S. Kanes, “Recycling data: An annotated marine acoustic data set that is publicly available for use in classifier development and marine mammal research,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 148, no. 4, pp. 2595-2595, 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.5147208
  • Comments :

Dolphins Underwater Sounds Database

  • Signatures: Tursiops Truncatus (Bottlenose Dolphin).
  • Frequency Band(s) : 0 to 250 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : Bruel&Kjaer Omni Hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Suspended in pool
  • Region(s) : Dolphinarium Varna, Bulgaria
  • Organisation : Technical University of Varna, Bulgaria
  • Data Link : https://dx.doi.org/10.21227/n00y-kq67
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : The database contains two sets of .wav audio lossless uncompressed files – 13 “burstsæ and 104 “clicksæ with durations of 250 ms to 9 s. All signals are sampled at 250 kHz and are amplitude-normalized. Each signal is accompanied with results from time-frequency and statistical analysis – oscillogram, frequency spectrum, spectrogram, cepstrogram, correlogram, histogram. The database includes also another 130 unanalyzed .wav audio segments with duration in the range of 250 ms to 4 s and 6 raw unsegmented 5 min .wav audio records.

The Marinexplore and Cornell University Whale Detection Challenge

  • Signatures : Northern Right Whale
  • Frequency Band(s) : 1 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : unknown
  • Region(s) : North Atlantic
  • Organisation : Marinexplore, Cornell University
  • Data Link : https://www.kaggle.com/c/whale-detection-challenge
  • License : Copyright Cornell University, Rights Reserved
  • References :
  • Comments :

Orca training data

  • Signatures : Killer Whale
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-directional hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : various
  • Region(s) : various
  • Organisation : Marinexplore, Cornell University
  • Data Link : https://github.com/orcasound/orcadata/wiki/Orca-training-data
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : Links to various labelled data sets for training (particularly OrcaSound)

Anthropogenic (Man-Made) Acoustic Data Sets

ShipsEar – Underwater Ship Noise Database

  • Signatures: Passive from various merchant and leisure craft.
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : unknown
  • Region(s) : Mediterranean?
  • Organisation : Universidad de Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain.
  • Data Link : https://atlanttic.uvigo.es/underwaternoise/
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments

DeepShip

  • Signatures: Passive from various merchant ships.
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : ONC moored sensor
  • Region(s) : Strait of Georgia, Northeastern Pacific
  • Organisation : Northwestern Polytechnical University, Canada
  • Data Link : https://github.com/irfankamboh/DeepShip
  • License : CC-BY-NC (assuming source from ONC trickles down)
  • Reference(s) : M. Irfan, Z. Jiangbin, S. Ali, M. Iqbal, Z. Masood, and U. Hamid, “DeepShip: An underwater acoustic benchmark dataset and a separable convolution based autoencoder for classification,” Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 183, p. 115270, 2021/11/30/ 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2021.11527
  • Comments: Some data available from github, more on request from researcher

Agora Source Signatures for the International Airgun Modelling Workshop

In-Band Full-Duplex Underwater Acoustic Communication (UAC) Measurements

  • Signatures:Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) and Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM) UAC on 28 kHz Carrier.
  • Frequency Band(s) : Unknown
  • Sensor Type(s) : Collocated transmitter & 8 receivers (aim investigate self-interference)
  • Platform(s) : Deployed from boat in centre of lake.
  • Region(s) : Lake of Tuscaloosa (Alabama?)
  • Organisation : University of Alabama
  • Data Link : https://dx.doi.org/10.21227/ecjt-ze13
  • License : CC
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

Underwater Acoustic Signal Modulation Recognition

  • Signatures: Underwater acoustic communication signal based on the simulation of the underwater acoustic channel environment, including a total of nine modulation types at eight signal-to-noise ratios. Modulation Types: OFDM, 2FSK, 4FSK, 8FSK, BPSK, QPSK, 8PSK, 16QAM, 64QAM.
  • Frequency Band(s) : Unknown
  • Sensor Type(s) : Simulation
  • Platform(s) : Simulation
  • Region(s) : Simulation
  • Organisation : OpenAction
  • Data Link : https://www.kaggle.com/competitions/underwater-acoustic-signal-modulation-recognition/data
  • License : Assume CC-BY (Competition Rules!)
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

Multiple Signal Tracking using a Simulated Passive Sonar Array in Real-time or Less

  • Signatures: Simulation of a number of broadband/narrowband contacts
  • Frequency Band(s) : Unknown
  • Sensor Type(s) : Simulated Horizontal Line Array
  • Platform(s) : Simulation
  • Region(s) : Simulation
  • Organisation : Dstl / University Defence Research Collaboration (UDRC)
  • Data Link : https://udrc.eng.ed.ac.uk/data-centre
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

 

Unlabelled Underwater Acoustic Time-Series Data

Underwater Data Portals

IQUO Acoustic Data Portal

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : various
  • Platform(s) : various
  • Region(s) : Worldwide
  • Organisation : International Quiet Ocean Experiment
  • Data Link : https://www.iqoe.org/acoustic-data-portal
  • License : various
  • References :
  • Comments : “Provides easier access to passive acoustic data from national systems worldwide”

NCEI Passive Acoustic Data Viewer

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : various
  • Platform(s) : various
  • Region(s) : Worldwide
  • Organisation : NOAA, USA
  • Data Link : https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/maps/passive-acoustic-data/
  • License : Unknown (possibly CC-BY as US Federal Funded)
  • References :
  • Comments :

EMSO-ERIC Observatory Portal

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : various
  • Platform(s) : various
  • Region(s) : Europe
  • Organisation : EMSO, ESONET – EU funded
  • Data Link : https://emso.eu/observatories/
  • License : Unknown
  • References :
  • Comments : 14 observatories including 3 test sites, but not immediately clear which have acoustic capabilities

Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS)

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophones
  • Platform(s) : Moorings
  • Region(s) : Pacific & Atlantic Coasts of US including Hawaii
  • Organisation : NOAA
  • Data Link : https://ioos.us/regions
  • License : Unknown (possibly CC-BY as US Federally Funded)
  • References :
  • Comments :

Listening to the Deep (LIDO) Portal

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : various
  • Platform(s) : various
  • Region(s) : Worldwide
  • Organisation : SONSETC, UPC
  • Data Link : http://listentothedeep.com/acoustics/index.php
  • License: various
  • References : M. André, M. van der Schaar, S. Zaugg, L. Houégnigan, A. M. Sánchez, and J. V. Castell, “Listening to the Deep: Live monitoring of ocean noise and cetacean acoustic signals,” Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 18-26, 2011, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2011.04.038
  • Comments : Not clear still supported as many of the data links seem to be broken (10 January 2024)

Meridian Discovery Portal

Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC)

  • Signatures: Various
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Gulf of Mexico
  • Organisation : Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi
  • Data Link : https://data.gulfresearchinitiative.org/
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

Ocean Acoustic Observatories

Orcasound

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled. Particularly Southern Resident killer Whales)
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : various
  • Platform(s) : various
  • Region(s) : NE Pacific
  • Organisation : Orcasound
  • Data Link : https://www.orcasound.net/
  • License : CC-BY-NC-SA
  • References :
  • Comments : mp3 only

International Monitoring System (IMS) – CTBTO

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 100 Hz
  • Sensor Type(s) : horizantal hydrophone triplet
  • Platform(s) : Moored, relative;y close to land
  • Region(s) : mainly South in all Oceans worlwide
  • Organisation : Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO)
  • Data Link : https://www.ctbto.org/resources/for-researchers-experts/vdec
  • License : Data free on request, but no further exploitation except for purpose as agreed or dissemination. Research outcome to acknowledge CTBTO as data source requested.
  • References : https://www.ctbto.org/our-work/international-monitoring-system
  • Comments :

Ocean Networks Canada (ONC)

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : moored
  • Region(s) : North Eastern Pacific, Arctic, North Western Atlantic
  • Organisation : University of Victoria, Canada Foundation for Innovation, British Columbia Government
  • Data Link : https://www.oceannetworks.ca/
  • License : CC-BY-ND
  • References :
  • Comments

ALOHA Cabled Observatory

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 50 Hz, 40 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : moored
  • Region(s) : Hawaii, Central North Pacific
  • Organisation : University of Hawaii, University of Washington, Monterey Bay Research Institute, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
  • Data Link : http://aco-ssds.soest.hawaii.edu/audio.html
  • License : Public Domain, but attribution appreciated.
  • References :
  • Comments

Lofoten-Vesterålen (LoVe) Ocean Observatory

  • Signatures : Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 10 Hz – 200 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : Omni-directional Hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Bottom-mounted
  • Region(s): North East Atlantic off North-Western Norway Coast
  • Organisation : Equinor / Havforskningsinstituttet
  • Data Link : https://loveocean.no/
  • License : CC-BY
  • Reference(s) : https://asa.scitation.org/doi/pdf/10.1121/2.0001324
  • Comments :

Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : unknown
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Moored Surface Buoy
  • Region(s) : Stones Mooring, Gulf of Mexico
  • Organisation : Shell International E&P
  • Data Link : https://data.gcoos.org/
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

Galway Bay Observatory (EMSO)

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 200 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-directional hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : bottom-mounted
  • Region(s) : Galway Bay, Ireland
  • Organisation : Marine Institute, Galway Bay, Ireland
  • Data Link : https://data.gov.ie/dataset/galway-bay-observatory-hydrophone-raw-data
  • License : CC
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments : data from 2017 but with some outages

NEMO-SN1 – Western Ionian Sea (EMSO)

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 50 Hz, 1 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : bottom-mounted
  • Region(s) : Western Ionian Sea, off Eastern Sicily, Mediterranean Sea
  • Organisation : EMSO, EU funded
  • Data Link : https://www.moist.it/sites/western_ionian_sea/2
  • License : CC-BY
  • Reference(s) : P. Favali et al., “NEMO-SN1 (Western Ionian Sea, off Eastern Sicily): Example of architecture of a cabled observatory,” in Symposium on Underwater Technology and Workshop on Scientific Use of Submarine Cables and Related Technologies, Tokyo, Japan, 5-8 April 2011, pp. 1-4, doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/UT.2011.5774157
  • Comments :

Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS) – ANMN Passive Acoustic Observatories

MARS Cable Observatory/Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

Fixed Sensor Deployments

Azores (EMSO)

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled
  • Frequency Band(s) : 3200 Hz
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : fixed autonomous, bottom-mounter
  • Region(s) : North East Atlantic
  • Organisation : EMSO, EU
  • Data Link : https://www.seanoe.org/data/00455/56626/
  • License : CC-BY
  • References :
  • Comments :

Underwater Acoustic Data from Yahtse Glacier, Icy Bay, Alaska

  • Signatures: Passive data. from Glacier
  • Frequency Band(s) : 50 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : autonomous hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Passive Aquatic Listener (PAL)
  • Region(s) : Ice Bay, Alaska
  • Organisation : Univ of Alaska, Fairbanks / APL, Univ Washington
  • Data Link : https://arcticdata.io/catalog/view/doi:10.5065/D66Q1VB7
  • License : CC-BY
  • References : T. C. Bartholomaus, C. F. Larsen, S. O’Neel, and M. E. West, “Calving seismicity from iceberg–sea surface interactions,” Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, vol. 117, no. F4, 2012, doi: https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JF002513
  • Comments : 13 May 2009 -> 19 July 2010, 27 -> 29 July 2011

Collaborative Oceanography and Monitoring for Protected Areas and Species (COMPASS)

East Coast Marine Mammal Acoustic Study (ECOMMAS)

NOAA/NPS Ocean Noise Reference Station Network

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 20 24,000 Hz
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : moorings
  • Region(s) : Arctic; NE, NC and SE Pacific; NW Atlantic
  • Organisation : NOAA/NPS – PMEL Acoustics Program
  • Data Link : https://www.pmel.noaa.gov/acoustics/noaanps-ocean-noise-reference-station-network
  • License : Unknown (Possibly CC-BY as US Federally Funded)
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

HELCOM

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : unknown
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : bottom-mounted
  • Region(s) : Baltic
  • Organisation : International Council for Exploration of the Sea – ICES
  • Data Link : https://www.ices.dk/data/data-portals/Pages/underwater-noise.aspx
  • License : CC-BY
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments

Earth Observing Laboratory

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : unknown
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Moored PAL
  • Region(s) : Ice Bay, Alaska, Arctic
  • Organisation : Earth Observing Laboratory
  • Data Link : https://doi.org/10.5065/D66Q1VB7
  • License: CC-BY
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

MEIL Open Data (Far Eastern Coral Reef Sounscapes)

  • Signatures: various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : various
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : bottom-mounted, autonomous recorder
  • Region(s) : Japan and Taiwan, North Western Pacific
  • Organisation(s) : The Ocean Policy Research Institute, Japan; Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of Ryukyus, Japan; Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
  • Data Link : https://meil.biodiv.tw/outcomes/resources
  • License : CC-BY
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

Coral Reef Soundscapes off Sesoko Island, Okinawa, Japan

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 40 Hz – 17 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : 2 hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Bottom-mounted
  • Region(s) : North Western Pacific (Okinawa, Japan)
  • Organisation(s) : The Ocean Policy Research Institute, Japan; Tropical Biosphere Research Center, University of Ryukyus, Japan; Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
  • Data Link : https://data.depositar.io/en/dataset/coral-reef-sesoko
  • License : CC-BY
  • Reference(s) : Tzu-Hao Lin, Tomonari Akamatsu, Frederic Sinniger, Saki Harii (2020) “Exploring coral reef biodiversity via underwater soundscapes.” Biological Conservation, 253: 108901 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108901
  • Comments : Only lossy mp3 recordings only available

Deep water soundscapes off northeastern Taiwan / MArine Cable Hosted Observatory (MACHO)

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 10 Hz – 80 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Bottom-mounted
  • Region(s) : North Western Pacific (Northeastern Taiwan)
  • Organisation(s) :
  • Data Link : https://data.depositar.io/en/dataset/deep-water-soundscapes-off-northeastern-taiwan
  • License : CC-BY
  • Reference(s) : Chi-Fang Chen, Hsiang-Chih Chan, Ray-I Chang, Tswen-Yung Tang, Sen Jan, Chau-Chang Wang, Ruey-Chang Wei, Yiing-Jang Yang, Lien-Siang Chou, Tzay-Chyn Shin, Kai-Wen Kuo, Pei-Ling Lu, Nai-Chi Hsiao, Tzu-Wei Lin, “Data demonstrations on physical oceanography and underwater acoustics from the MArine Cable Hosted Observatory (MACHO)”. 2012 Oceans – Yeosu. https://doi.org/10.1109/OCEANS-Yeosu.2012.6263639 & Nai-Chi Hsiao, Tzu-Wei Lin, Shu-Kun Hsu, Kai-Wei Kuo, Tzay-Chyn Shin & Peih-Lin Leu “Improvement of earthquake locations with the Marine Cable Hosted Observatory (MACHO) offshore NE Taiwan”. Marine Geophysical Research, vol 35, pp. 327–336, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11001-013-9207-3
  • Comments :

PerenniAL Acoustic Observatory in the Antarctic(PALAOA)

  • Signatures:
    • seals: Weddell, crabeater, Ross, leopard
    • toothed whale: killer
    • baleen whale: blue, fin, minke
    • physical: ice processes
    • anthropogenic: passing shipping, human activities on ice sheet
  • Frequency Band(s) : 192 kHz sampling
  • Sensor Type(s) : Omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Suspended from ice-sheet
  • Region(s) : Antarctic
  • Organisation : PANGAEA
  • Data Link : https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.773610
  • License : CC-BY 3.0
  • Reference(s) : L. Kindermann et al., “A perennial acoustic observatory in the Antarctic Ocean,” presented at the International Expert Meeting on IT-based Detection of Bioacoustical Patterns, Ilse of Vilm, Germany, 2007. [Online]. Available: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/18506/1/Kin2008b.pdf
  • Comments :

Southern Ocean Hydrophone Network (SOHN)

Australian National Mooring Network (ANMN) – Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS)

  • Signatures: Various
  • Frequency Band(s) : Various
  • Sensor Type(s) : Various
  • Platform(s) : Various
  • Region(s) : Coast of Australia
  • Organisation : National Research Infrastructure for Australia (NCRIS)
  • Data Link : https://acoustic.aodn.org.au/acoustic/
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

Antarctic Peninsula 2005-2009

  • License : Public Domain, CC0
  • Reference(s) : Dziak R.P. Bohnenstiehl D.R., Stafford K.M., Matsumoto H., Park M., Lee W.S., Fowler M.J., Lau T-K, Haxel J.H., Mellinger D.K., “Sources and levels of ambient ocean sound near the Antarctic Penninsula”, PLOS ONE, April 2015. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0123425
  • Comments :

West Bay 2011-2012 Acoustic Time Series

  • Signatures: Snapping shrimp
  • Frequency Band(s) : 50,000 Hz (60 or 30 second of data every 15 or 30 minutes)
  • Sensor Type(s) : DSG hydrophone recorder (Loggerhead Instruments)
  • Platform(s) : Mooring
  • Region(s) : West Bay Marine Reserve in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, US
  • Organisation : North Carolina State University, NCSU MEAS
  • Data Link : https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/628710
  • License : Unknown (possibly CC-BY as US Federally Funded)
  • Reference(s) : Bohnenstiehl, D.R., A. Lillis and D.B. Eggleston “he Curious Acoustic Behavior of Estuarine Snapping Shrimp: Temporal Patterns of Snapping Shrimp Sound in Sub-tidal Oyster Reef Habitat”, PLUS ONE, January 13, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0143691
  • Comments :

Harris Creek May 2015 Acoustic Time Series

  • Signatures: Various Estaurine
  • Frequency Band(s) : 48 kHz (2 minutes of data every 30 minutes)
  • Sensor Type(s) : SoundTrap hydrophone recorder (OceanInstruments New Zealand)
  • Platform(s) : Mooring
  • Region(s) : Tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland, US.
  • Organisation : North Carolina State University, NCSU MEAS
  • Data Link : https://www.bco-dmo.org/dataset/707721
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

SACLANT Sonar Data – Signal Processing Information Base (SPIB)

  • Signatures: 170 & 350 Hz sources
  • Frequency Band(s) : 1 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : 48-element Vertical Line Array
  • Platform(s) : Mooring
  • Region(s) : Italian West Coast
  • Organisation : NATO SACLANT Center, Le Spezia, Italy
  • Data Link : http://spib.linse.ufsc.br/sonar.html
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

AMADEUS (ANTARES)

  • Signatures: Various
  • Frequency Band(s) : 1-100 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : 6 Vertical Line Arrays (ranging in height from 10 to 100 m), horizontally separated by 200m – 34 working hydrophones total
  • Platform(s) : Seabed mounted
  • Region(s) : Mediterranean Sea, 40 km off Toulon
  • Organisation : ANTARES
  • Data Link : No link to data located.
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) : M. Neff, “The Acoustic Detection System AMADEUS as Part of the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope,” in Sensor Technologies and Applications (sensorcomm 2008), Cap Esterel, France, 25-31 August 2008, pp. 687-692, doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/SENSORCOMM.2008.51 & J. A. Aguilar et al., “AMADEUS—The acoustic neutrino detection test system of the ANTARES deep-sea neutrino telescope,” Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment, vol. 626-627, pp. 128-143, 11 January 2011, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2010.09.053
  • Comments : Collections are primarily detected transient events although some wideband data recorded for environment characterisation.

Permanent Cetacean passive acoustic sensor network in the Belgian part of the North Sea

  • Signatures: harbour porpoise click detections only
  • Frequency Band(s) : N/A
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : C-PODS, seabed mounted
  • Region(s) : North Sea
  • Organisation : Flander Marine Institute, Belgium
  • Data link: https://www.lifewatch.be/en/datasets
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments : No raw data available. Annual data since 2017.

OHA-SIS-BIO – Observatoire Hydroacoustique

  • Signatures: fin and blue whale call detections
  • Frequency Band(s) : 120 Hz
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : fixed autonomous
  • Region(s) : Indian Ocean
  • Organisation : University of Brest / CNRS. Laboratoire Domaines Oceaniques, Brest, France
  • Data link: https://doi.org/10.17882/46124
  • License : CC-BY-NC
  • Reference(s) : E. Tsang-Hin-Sun, J.-Y. Royer, and E. C. Leroy, “Low-frequency sound level in the Southern Indian Ocean,” The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, vol. 138, no. 6, pp. 3439-3446, December 2015, doi: https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4936855
  • Comments : No direct access to raw data, but possible some recorded

Platform Collected Acoustic Data Sets

Acoustic recordings from an ocean glider along the continental shelf break of the Pacific Northwest USA

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 5 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : omni-hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : glider
  • Region(s) : East Coast US
  • Organisation : NOAA, USA
  • Data Link : https://www.seanoe.org/data/00481/59303/
  • License : Public Domain
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

SENSOCEAN

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : Unknown
  • Sensor Type(s) : Unknown
  • Platform(s) : UUV
  • Region(s) : Europe?
  • Organisation : SiPLABoratory
  • Data Link : http://www.siplab.fct.ualg.pt/data_rep.shtml
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments : Not clear whether data widely available

AURORA

SUBECO

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 50 kHz?
  • Sensor Type(s) : Horizontal, planar 4 hydrophone array
  • Platform(s) : Mooring
  • Region(s) : Off Lisbon, Portugal, NE Atlantic
  • Organisation : SiPLABoratory, Portugal
  • Data Link : On request from https://www.siplab.fct.ualg.pt/proj/subeco.shtml
  • License : On Request
  • Reference(s) : R. Sabara, C. Soares, F. Zabel, J. V. Oliveira, and S. M. Jesus, “Automatic acoustic target detection and classification off the coast of Portugal,” in Global Oceans 2020, Biloxi, MS, USA, 5-30 October 2020, pp. 1-9, doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/IEEECONF38699.2020.9389067
  • Comments :

2013 Antarctic Blue Whale Voyage Passive Sonobuoys

  • Signatures :
    • baleen: blue (Antarctic song, New Zealand type song, “D-call”), fin, humpback, sei
    • toothed whale:, killer, sperm whales
    • physical processes: sea ice.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 2 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : DIFAR sensor
  • Platform(s) : Sonobuoy
  • Region(s) : Antarctic
  • Organisation : Australian Antarctic Data Centre
  • Data Link : https://doi.org/10.4225/15/53EC41A5230B1
  • License : CC-BY
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

NZ-Aus Antarctic Ecosystems Voyage 2015 Passive Sonobuoys

  • Signatures:
    • baleen whale: blue (New Zealand type song, ‘D-call’), fin, humpback
    • toothed whale: killer, sperm
    • physical processes: Antarctic sea ice
  • Frequency Band(s) : 2 kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : DIFAR sensor
  • Platform(s) : Sonobuoy
  • Region(s) : Antarctic
  • Organisation : Australian Antarctic Data Centre
  • Data Link : https://doi.org/10.4225/15/59ba06898fd65
  • License : CC-BY 4.0
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition 2017 Passive Sonobuoys

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled.
  • Frequency Band(s) : 0 – 2kHz
  • Sensor Type(s) : DIFAR (cross pair dipoles + omni)
  • Platform(s) : Sonobuoy
  • Region(s) : Antarctic
  • Organisation : NASA EARTHDATA
  • Data Link : https://cmr.earthdata.nasa.gov/search/concepts/C1425888147-AU_AADC
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

MAST 2

Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) Data Sets (Fibre Optic Cable)

RAPID: DAS on the OOI’s Regional Cabled Array

  • Signatures: Various passive, unlabelled
  • Frequency Band(s) : some 1 kHz sampling, most 200 Hz sampling
  • Sensor Type(s) : Fibre-optic cable
  • Platform(s) : seabed communications cable
  • Region(s) : Off coast Oregon, East Pacific
  • Organisation : Ocean Observatories Initiative, USA
  • Data Link : https://doi.org/10.58046/5J60-FJ89
  • License : unknown
  • References : W. S. D. Wilcock, S. Abadi, and B. P. Lipovsky, “Distributed acoustic sensing recordings of low-frequency whale calls and ship noise offshore Central Oregon,” JASA Express Letters, vol. 3, no. 2, February 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0017104
  • Comments :

DAS4Whales

  • Signatures: Blue whales, Baleen whales, ship sound (unlabelled)
  • Frequency Band(s) : Up to 320 Hz
  • Sensor Type(s) : Fibre optic cable
  • Platform(s) : disused communication cable?
  • Region(s) : off Isfjorden, Svalbard, Norway, Arctic
  • Organisation : Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
  • Data Link : https://zenodo.org/records/5823343
  • License : CC-BY 4.0
  • Reference(s) : L. Bouffaut et al., “Eavesdropping at the Speed of Light: Distributed Acoustic Sensing of Baleen Whales in the Arctic,” (in English), Frontiers in Marine Science, Original Research vol. 9, 5 July 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.901348
  • Comments :

MEUST-NUMerEnv/KM3NeT DAS experiment

  • Signatures: Earthquakes
  • Frequency Band(s) : 15 Hz?
  • Sensor Type(s) : fiber optic cable
  • Platform(s) : MEUST-NUMerEnv/KM3NeT fiber optic cable
  • Region(s) : off Toulon, France, Ligurian Sea, Mediterranean
  • Organisation : Unknown
  • Data Link : https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/X6AWB
  • License : Unknown
  • Reference(s) : A. Sladen et al., “Distributed sensing of earthquakes and ocean-solid Earth interactions on seafloor telecom cables,” Nature Communications, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 5777, 18 December 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-13793-z
  • Comments :

DEFRA Acoustic Data Sets

Potentially the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) could be approached to determine whether acoustic data from the UK’s Continental Shelf is available from the activities that they have sponsored under the UK Marine Strategy for maintaining GES (Good Environmental Status) and through their relationships with neighbouring countries. “Marine Strategy Part Two: UK updated monitoring programmes”, DEFRA, UK, March 2021. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-strategy-part-two-uk-marine-monitoring-programmes

NATO CMRE Data Sets

Potentially the NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) could be approached to determine whether acoustic data is available from the activities (mainly Meditteranean Sea but some work in NE Atlantic). Probably difficult where UK not involved in sponsoring, but possible where UK sponsored activity. Possible CMRE may hold acoustic data from older activities involving UK which could be made available (including when it was NURC and SACLANTCEN).

General Data Sets

Low-Frequency Continuous Active Sonar (LCAS)

  • Signatures: UUV with echo-repeater, with active returns from PAS signal and simultaneously a number of CAS signals (principally CAS-LFM, but some CAS-CW and some novel waveforms
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : Towed Triplet Array
  • Platform(s) : Research Vessel and UUVs
  • Region(s) : Mediterranean Sea around Italy
  • Organisation : CMRE, Dstl (UWG)
  • Data Link :
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments :

Policy-orientated marine Environmental Research in the Southern European Seas (PERSEUS)

  • Signatures: Passive from “Small boat”, “Mid-sized boat”, “Ship”
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : 3D Vector Hydrophone
  • Platform(s) : Slocum Glider
  • Region(s) : Greek Islands in Mediterranean Sea
  • Organisation : CMRE, EU FP7 (NO UK SPONSORSHIP!)
  • Data Link :
  • Reference(s) : Tesei A., Been R., Williams D., Cardeira B., Galletti D., Cecchi D., Garau B., Maguer A., “Passive acoustic surveillance of surface vessel using tridimensional array on an underwater glider”, IEEE Oceans 2015, Genova, May 2015. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7271573
  • Comments :

Proprietary Acoustic Data Sets

General Data Sets

Whales ’93

  • Signatures: Passive from various Baleen whale species
  • Frequency Band(s) :
  • Sensor Type(s) : Linear Arrays
  • Platform(s) : Bottom Mounted
  • Region(s) : Atlantic
  • Organisation : Cornell University, US.
  • Data Link :
  • Reference(s) :
  • Comments : Although declared proprietary, might argue for MoD use given sensors.

Fish Sounds

    • Signatures: Passive from a number of fish species
    • Frequency Band(s) :
    • Sensor Type(s) : Various
    • Platform(s) : Unknown
    • Region(s) : NW Atlantic
    • Organisation :
    • Data Link :
    • Reference(s) :
    • Comments :