Description Of The Problem

Over the past several years Scientific Solutions, Inc. (SSI) has been developing active sonar for the detection of marine mammals. The general goal is to very reliably detect the presence of a marine mammal out to a range of about 2 km (1 mile). This effort is motivated by the many military and industrial activities that might harm a marine mammal should they come to close. These include high-powered military sonar systems; the operation of air-gun arrays to conduct seismic surveys; commercial shipping; detonation of explosives for the removal of offshore structures, shock testing, and excavation; and research using underwater sound.

Current research indicates that there is a high danger zone surrounding these activities, out to as far as 1000 meters, where there is a possibility of direct physiological damage from the acoustic pressure wave (see Figure 1). If an animal could be detected prior to entering this zone an activity might be halted or otherwise changed so as to avoid harm to the animal. However, this relies on reliable detection. Current techniques for the detection of marine mammals include passive acoustic detection (simply listening for marine mammal vocalizations) and visual monitoring. But passive detection is not reliable when the animals are not vocal, which for some species is most of the time, and visual detection is not reliable in poor weather conditions or at night. Thus we are developing active sonar systems that transmit a sound pulse that is reflected off the animal and then received back at the sonar. In general, active sonar systems give the highest probability of detecting an object in the ocean environment with the most accurate localization.

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Scientific Solutions Incorporated
99 Perimeter Rd.
Nashua, NH 03063
Phone: (603) 880-3784
Fax: (603) 598-1803
E-mail: info@scisol.com