NE Soundscapes

The New England Seamount (NESM) Pilot Soundscapes Cruise ~May 2022 is part of the Task Force Ocean Department Research Initiative to study the Atlantis II cluster of the New England Seamount Chain. This cruise shall coordinate with the R/V Neil Armstrong, which shall be collecting complimentary oceanographic measurements near the seamount. The Soundscapes Cruise will conduct simultaneous passive acoustic and biological surveys including ship-based EK60 surveys, towed wire flyer surveys, deployment and recovery of optical-acoustic midwater drifters, moored acoustic array placement and recovery, and targeted MOCNESS trawls. The goals are to characterize the ambient soundscape associated with seamount communities including deep reefs and fish aggregations, and to map the distribution of midwater and pelagic biology around the seamount cluster and in relation to oceanographic features such as eddies.