Marine Mammal Laboratory

CHAOZ

The overall goal of the CHAOZ study is to document the distribution and relative abundance of bowhead, humpback, right, fin, gray, and other whales in areas of potential seismic surveying, drilling, construction, and production activities and relate changes in those variables to oceanographic conditions, indices of potential prey density, and anthropogenic activities. This study has four component projects: oceanography, passive acoustics, zooplankton, and climate modeling. Passive acoustic moorings, deployed concurrently with bio-physical moorings will provide previously unattainable year-round assessments of the seasonal occurrence of bowhead, humpback, right, fin, gray, and other whales in this planning area and their response to environmental changes (including oceanographic conditions, climate, indices of potential prey density, and anthropogenic activities). The CHAOZ study is a collaborative effort between MML, the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), the Resource Assessment and Conservation Engineering Division (RACE) at AFSC, and Cornell University; funded through an Inter-Agency agreement between MML and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

Contracted Reports