Passive Acoustic Monitoring: a Practical Introduction

Passive acoustics, the science of detecting, classifying and localising animal sounds, is a vital tool for researching and protecting cetaceans. One the major components of any passive acoustic setup is software which can detect, classify and localise vocalisations from a multitude of different species. These can include the low sub sonic tones of blue whales, the largest animals ever to have lived on the planet, or the ultrasonic clicks of the humble harbour porpoise, six times higher in frequency than humans can hear.

Passive Acoustic Monitoring: a Practical Introduction is a two day course which gives participants a strong grounding in key aspects of cetacean passive acoustic monitoring, including the capabilities and uses of PAMGuard. A series of supervised exercises will take you through many of the uses and features of PAMGuard. touching on some of the more advanced modules. Students are also introduced to PAM hardwear and taught how to configure equipment and troubleshoot problems. We also discuss case studies which demonstrate different types of PAM surveys and when to use them, including some of the latest research methodologies.

PAMGUARD is an open source passive acoustics software program capable of working both in real-time as a powerful mitigation tool and as a comprehensive post data collection analysis suite. It builds on decades of research in passive acoustics and is designed specifically to process and display the large volumes of data collected in surveys and research expeditions, targeting the full spectrum of cetacean species.