Howe Sound Hydrophone

We are still in the infancy and fundraising stage of this project. Current efforts are focused on networking, community outreach, and proposing a hydrophone location. Once we have secured the funds, the first objective is to source and build the acoustic equipment needed for the hydrophone node to be deployed. The second objective is to work with our team of deployment volunteers to deploy the acoustic equipment. The third objective is to set-up the data management, processing, storage, and live-stream in which the land-based community can listen in. This includes onboarding to the BC Hydrophone Network (BCHN) and Whale Sound. The fourth objective is to maintain the hydrophone and create an open source data storage system to provide this acoustic data to scientists in which a baseline for acoustic presence in the Howe Sound can be presented and monitored in the future.

Future goals for this project include deploying additional hydrophones to create an acoustic network in Howe Sound to alert ship traffic of marine mammal presence. Whales have returned to Howe Sound and it is crucial to monitor that this fjord remains a safe and quiet habitat in the future.