What We Do
Sound Ocean Science provides expertise and support to marine research and conservation projects, from inception to completion.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Proposal Writing
Planning & Logistics
Budgeting
Experimental Design
Recruitment
WORKSHOPS & TRAINING
Training Materials
Mentorship
Knowledge Exchange
Presentations
Remote Support
IMPLEMENTATION
Project Management
Scientific Diving
Procurement & Fabrication
Field Troubleshooting
Data Collection
SYNTHESIS & COMMUNICATION
Data Analysis
Data Visualization
Reports & Publications
Native English Editing
Education & Outreach
We work both independently and with community partners around the world to further our research and shared conservation aims.
Key Areas of Expertise
Soundscape Ecology & Passive Acoustic Monitoring
Listening to marine habitats to assess biological and physical processes is fast becoming an attractive non-destructive cost-effective method for biodiversity assessment and monitoring. Using innovative technologies and analyses, ecoacoustic research and monitoring can provide incredibly rich information about marine communities and anthropogenic impacts. Through soundscape analysis we are better understanding human impacts on undersea habitats.
Habitat Surveys & Ecological Monitoring
Comprehensive surveys and repeat monitoring of relevant ecological and environmental variables are critical to many research and conservation projects. We design and tailor survey and monitoring methods to the application and context; techniques include diver benthic, fish, and invertebrate surveys, tagging, photogrammetry, and data logger deployment. Strong data analysis, hypothesis testing and interpretation is key to making meaning of survey data and ensuring their effective application.
Coral Nurseries & Reef Restoration
As coral reefs continue to decline worldwide, active restoration is increasingly being applied to enhance or maintain coral populations. Coral nurseries and restoration techniques are rapidly evolving and continue to be tested and refined - the design of a restoration project must consider the geographical context, ecology, project goals, budget, and capacity. We have experience advising, planning, and creating coral nurseries and restoration efforts at small and large scales, as well as conducting essential baseline and pilot restoration studies.
Larval Propagation for Restoration & Research
Producing new propagules is critical to early life history research and the long-term effectiveness of restoration efforts for reef-building marine invertebrates such as corals. We monitor spawning patterns, collect gametes, fertilize and rear larvae to settlement, while conducting relevant experiments and adapting techniques to maximize survival. Central to our work with coral larvae is developing ways to reduce bottlenecks in coral early life survival and to increase the efficiency of growing juvenile corals.
Food Web Ecology
Understanding food-web dynamics and the role of animals within their community is key to understanding how changes in animal abundance could have knock-on implications for the system as a whole. We have the capacity to do both large-scale community wide analyses and to answer more specific questions using stable isotope analyses. This includes the collection of samples, laboratory analysis, and developing comprehensive models to understand trophic ecology. These studies enhance our understanding of how animals partition resources in the marine environment and how changes in a single population may affect the entire community.
Megafauna Monitoring
Megafauna, such as cetaceans, play key roles in marine communities as predators that transport nutrients and exert top-down control on food-webs. Their distribution is often linked to areas of high productivity -- shifts in distribution and abundance can reflect environmental change. We have extensive expertise in monitoring marine megafauna populations, and conduct studies of their habitat-use, trophic ecology, abundance, and behaviour. Our research not only provides critical population data on species of concern, but also links megafauna ecology to human activities, thus supporting conservation and resource management decisions.