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Research

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DRONES FOR MARINE MAMMAL RESEARCH

Marine mammals are inherently cryptic species; they spend most of their time underwater and have very wide geographic distributions, making it difficult to study these animals up close.  Recent advancements in the technology of remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS, more commonly known as "drones") have allowed for unique opportunities to study marine mammals at sea. 

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LOCATING RIGHT WHALE FORAGING GROUNDS USING A GLIDER-MOUNTED ECHOSOUNDER

As right whales spend most of their time feeding, identifying the location of their natural foraging grounds is a key element in their conservation. Delphine's project aims to pinpoint such areas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence using mobile undersea gliders.

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EMPHASIZING THE 'BIO' IN BIOPHYSICAL STUDIES OF ZOOPLANKTON HOTSPOTS

In our lab, we research biological-physical coupling in zooplankton to characterize the mechanisms that accumulate zooplankton into predator foraging hotspots.

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OCEANOGRAPHIC IMPACTS ON BALEEN WHALE MIGRATION AND HABITAT USE

Our lab advances understanding of how trajectories of large whale populations, plankton populations and ocean transport respond to climate change.

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NEW TECHNOLOGY TO ENHANCE MARINE MAMMAL SCIENCE AND CONSERVATION

Our lab studies the application of real-time acoustic monitoring for marine mammals from autonomous (unmanned) ocean platforms and aerial drones to measure the health of large whales.

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ADVANCING GLIDER TECHNOLOGY AS MARINE ECOSYSTEM SENTINELS

Undersea gliders are capable of monitoring over large space and time scales that are not possible with other technologies.  In our lab, we work on developing gliders as multi-trophic ecosystem monitoring tools.

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DETECTION OF WHALES FROM SPACE

Advances in technology have allowed for the deployment of satellites that collect imagery at very high-resolution (~30cm) capable of detecting whales from space.

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Autonomous Plankton Imaging

Our lab is developing an application for a glider-mounted shadowgraph camera for imaging zooplankton in the ocean.

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Interested in joining our lab?

We're always looking for exceptional people to add to our team. Click the button below to learn about the next steps!

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Meet the team

Interested to know who is behind this research? Read more about our team members by clicking the button below!

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