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Soundscapes at Sea

March 3, 2016

WHOI biologists Aran Mooney and Laela Sayigh are leading a multi-year effort to study the “soundscape” of Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound—the proposed site of one of the country’s first offshore wind farms—using digital acoustic recorders on the mooring with the orange float. The data can help track marine mammals and fish and monitor their activities. The tall tower in the background is the Cape Wind platform that measures temperature and wind speeds. If the wind farm project moves forward, the data will help evaluate potential impacts of construction and operation noise on animals’ behaviors or use of their habitat.(Photo by Aran Mooney, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)