Third national Bioacoustics day in Zeeland
On the 15th of October, IMARES and IBL co-organized a symposium on underwater acoustics related to research on fish and marine mammals.
The symposium is a one-day event, which was now organized for the third time, and serves as an opportunity for informal interactions among scientists, industry and government to exchange ideas and learn about most recent insights with respect to a variety of topics. The presentations included recent project work in the field of underwater acoustics, such as vocalisation and hearing of aquatic animals, effects of underwater noise, ecosystem observation, and seabed mapping.
Special location
This year’s event took place at a special location: the office and research facilities of Stichting Zeeschelp at the Jacobahaven in Kamperland, Zeeland. This location is used by IBL-PhD-student Errol Neo for his work on the effects of underwater noise on marine fish (funded by ZKO-NWO*). He has built a temporary platform, in the sheltered water of the Jacobahaven, to conduct sound exposure experiments and behavioural observations on tagged fish using advanced acoustic and observation tools and a floating pen for fish (see figure).
International guests
Besides speakers representing the Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies ( IMARES, Wageningen University) and the Institute of Biology Leiden, there were presentations from the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research ( TNO, The Hague) and the Sea Mammal Research Company ( SEAMARCO, Wilhelminadorp). We also welcomed some international speakers from Belgium, Germany and England, with as special guests: Andy Radford, Bristol University and Stephen Simpson, Exeter University.
More information: errolneo@gmail.com
* ZKO-NWO = National Ocean and Coastal Research Programme of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research.