2026-04-27T23:46:51Z https://www.peertechzpublications.org/oai-pmh

oai:www.peertechzpublications.org:10.17352/alo.000018 2025-06-07 PTZ.ALO:VOL10

Assessing Mooring Designs for Improved Acoustic Monitoring of Harbour Porpoise in the German Borkum Riffgrund, North Sea Ian B ToddVictoria LG Todd<p>This study evaluates two contrasting mooring methods for Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) of harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the German Borkum Riffgrund Special Area of Conservation (North Sea).&nbsp;</p><p>The first method utilized a low-profile subsurface acoustic-release buoy, while the second employed a large surface-chained buoy. Porpoises were monitored using T- and C-PODs, which are autonomous echolocation click detectors.&nbsp;</p><p>The experimental subsurface acoustic-release buoy yielded significantly higher-quality data compared to the surface buoy, likely due to reduced hydrodynamic drag and self-generated noise. Porpoise detection positive minutes per day were significantly higher at the experimental site, indicating superior performance of the subsurface mooring.&nbsp;</p><p>The study highlights the importance of mooring design in PAM studies and suggests that subsurface acoustic-release buoys are more effective for the long-term monitoring of harbor porpoises in high-noise environments. These findings have implications for the design of future PAM studies and the mitigation of underwater noise impacts on marine mammals.</p> Annals of Limnology and Oceanography - Peertechz Publications 2025-06-07 Research Article https://doi.org/10.17352/alo.000018 en Copyright © Ian B Todd et al.