Scotland’s beautiful capital city of Edinburgh hosted the first international Marine Mammal Mitigation & Monitoring Conference on 07.09.2024, organized by the Marine Mammals Observer Association (MMOA) and the Institute of Marine Engineering Science (IMarEST), in which we as a company had the pleasure to participate, represented by Kinga Dobosz.
At the MMOA2024 conference, we had the opportunity to explore the topic of monitoring and mitigation of impacts on marine mammals during activities such as piling (a method of siting offshore wind farm turbines), unexploded ordnance removal (UXO), and seabed geophysical surveys. In this topic, we were able to learn from the experience of, among others, the JNCC committee, which has prepared universal guidelines for these activities, recommended for use not only in UK waters.
New developments in marine mammal monitoring surveys using artificial intelligence were also discussed. Traditional visual analysis is often labor-intensive and inconsistent, and the integration of artificial intelligence together with human expertise will improve these analyses.
Topics on technologies and methods used to monitor underwater noise and design effective surveillance systems were also addressed.
New developments in marine mammal monitoring surveys using artificial intelligence were also discussed. Traditional visual analysis is often labour intensive and inconsistent, and the integration of artificial intelligence together with human expertise will improve these analyses.
Topics on technologies and methods used to monitor underwater noise and design effective surveillance systems were also addressed.
Although the speakers and participants were from different countries and sectors of the maritime industry, they all agreed that it is important for governments and industry to work together, and for specialists to share information at an international level. Often, as countries, we face similar problems such as the lack or absence of updated guidelines and regulations for monitoring the impact of project developments on marine mammals. Drawing on the experience of other countries is then necessary.
Monitoring and minimising negative impacts from anthropogenic sources on marine mammals are extremely important tasks. Marine infrastructure is constantly evolving, posing a risk to marine mammals, thus affecting the biodiversity of marine ecosystems.
As a full-service consultancy, we know how important it is to keep our knowledge up to date and develop our competences and to look for new solutions or inspiration. These are key aspects of reliable and effective work in environmental consultancy, which is why we appreciate the opportunity to broaden our knowledge in the field of marine mammal conservation and exchange experiences with specialists from other countries, which the MMOA2024 conference made possible.
