More About the Project
Purpose
The Marine Mammal Risk Mitigation (MMRM) project, formerly known as SOLMAR (an acronym for Sound, Oceanography and Living MArine Resources), is a comprehensive, multi-national effort to shed light on some basic questions:
- What animals are most at-risk?
- What are their habitats?
- Can we understand their behaviour (dive patterns, sounds, etc.)?
- What causes atypical mass strandings?
- What can we do to minimize the potential risk of tactical active sonar operations?
Goal
The goal of this project is to make it possible for NATO navies and researchers to use sonar during exercises and experiments while minimizing the risk to marine mammals. This is being accomplished by a multi-pronged approach, including the development of:
- Habitat models that predict the distribution of marine mammals in the common NATO operating areas
- Hardware and software tools that can help detect marine mammals
- Policies, protocols, and guidelines for NURC researchers and recommendations for NATO personnel in charge of planning active sonar operations
- Public outreach and education programs
Progress
Although all of the basic questions listed above have not been answered, large strides have been made. From analysis of world-wide strandings, it is generally accepted that the animals at greatest risk from naval sonar are marine mammals from the family Ziphiidea (beaked whales). We have been able to describe their desirable habitats and their diving and feeding patterns. Analysis of acoustic data has significantly increased our understanding of the complex vocalizations of sperm whales and Cuvier's beaked whales and has led to the development at the Centre of a series of prototype instruments to detect and classify these animals.