Using passive acoustic monitoring from gliders for near real-time detection of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) to inform management decisions related to the Laurentian Channel dynamic shipping zones and the Cabot Strait voluntary slowdown area (2022-2023)

Abstract

This project used right whale detections from gliders to trigger dynamic vessel management in the traffic separation scheme within Dynamic Shipping Zones C and E (DSZ C and E) and the Cabot Strait Voluntary Slowdown. Two profiling gliders equipped with hydrophone systems were deployed for 134, 76, and 39- day missions, from April through November 2022. The gliders reported daily detections of five baleen whale species that were validated by a trained human analyst and then sent to Transport Canada. The glider detected right whales in near real-time in DSZ C on one survey day but did not detect any at any time in the Cabot Strait. In response to the glider detection, a speed limit was imposed in DSZ C for 15 days, or 11.2% of the survey period. The false positive rate estimated for right whale detections at the daily scale was 0% in the DSZ, and the false negative rates for this species at the daily scale were 5% and 0% in the DSZ and Cabot Strait, respectively.