Ocean Research and Conservation Association (ORCA) of Ireland and Huawei Ireland have released the latest critical findings on marine life protection in Ireland discovered during their joint work on the Smart Whales Sound project.
The announcement occurred during the OceanTech Summit at Ireland’s Baltimore Castle in Ireland.
The joint study found that shipping lanes in the Celtic Sea south of Ireland significantly contribute to noise pollution in the marine environment.
Prior research has shown that ocean noise can affect a multitude of marine species, including seals, fish, and even squid, and it can threaten the survival of whales.
So far, Huawei’s real-time multi-species detection system has shown it has practical implications for marine conservation.
It can provide real-time notifications to ships in areas where whales are present, thanks to its new acoustics data acquisition system.
The system could potentially help in the planning of key marine infrastructure, such as offshore renewable energy facilities, to minimise noise impact on marine life during the construction phase.
Emer Keaveney, Co-founder and Executive Director of ORCA Ireland, said: “Noise from shipping and other human activities in our waters can severely impact marine life like whales and dolphins.
“Ship noise, such as the low hum of a container ship, can mask whale calls, affect animal communication and critical life history strategies such as coordinated feeding, or move animals out of essential habitats.
“Recent technological advances provide increasing opportunities to use these innovations for good and to enhance our understanding of the natural world. To achieve this, we are using Huawei’s [AI development platform] ModelArts and cloud storage, coupled with machine learning, to automate wildlife monitoring for marine conservation.”
Starting in March 2021, the ORCA Ireland Smart Whale Sounds project is run in partnership with Rainforest Connection (RFCx), and is supported by Huawei Ireland through the TECH4ALL initiative as the first real-time marine bioacoustics study in Ireland.
Preliminary analysis suggests that the south coast of Ireland is a cetacean (whales, dolphins and porpoises) ‘hot-spot’.
Cetaceans constitute almost half of all the animals within Ireland’s sea and land borders. Worldwide, sea mammals are a third of animals on earth.
