Density Abundance Cuvier’s Blainville’s Beaked Whales Mariana Archipelago Drifting Acoustic Recorders Feb23

About

NOAA Fisheries Science Centers have increasingly relied on passive acoustic datasets to augment traditional visual‐based assessments with recent efforts including drifting recorders (DASBRs) resulting in beaked whale habitat preferences in the Mariana Archipelago and first‐ ever acoustic‐based density and abundance estimates for Cuvier’s beaked whales along the entire US west coast. In 2021 the Navy supported line‐transect survey for cetaceans throughout the Mariana Archipelago and throughout the large‐scale survey effort DASBRs were deployed with the goal of collecting data on the occurrence of beaked whales and other cryptic deep‐ divers.