Automated model-based localization of marine mammals near Hawaii

Abstract

Acoustic data from the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) hydrophone network near Hawaii is being used to develop a real-time automated alert and tracking algorithm. The sources of interest are marine mammals, humpback whales in particular, which are regularly seen in the vicinity of the PMRF array. The algorithm under development uses acoustic data from six hydrophones plus an acoustic propagation model to construct an ambiguity surface identifying the most probable whale location in a horizontal plane around the array. It has the further advantage that it can be implemented in real-time and without human interaction, making it suitable for automated alert applications.