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 (2021-2022)

Abstract

This project used right whale detections from gliders to trigger dynamic vessel management in the traffic separation scheme within Dynamic Shipping Zone C (DSZ C) and the Cabot Strait Voluntary Slow Zone. Two profiling gliders equipped with hydrophone systems were deployed for 116 and 107-day missions, respectively, from July 6th – November 9th, 2021. The gliders reported daily detections of four baleen whale species that were validated by a trained human analyst and then sent to Transport Canada. The glider detected right whales in DSZ C on fourteen survey days, and the Cabot Strait on two survey days. In response to the glider detections, a speed limit was imposed in DSZ C for 72 days, or 62.1% of the survey period. The false positive rates for right whale detections at the daily scale were 7% and 0%, and the false negative rates for this species at the daily scale were 5% and 1%, respectively.