Members of the EU-funded SATURN project at OCEANOISE 2023.
Today we wrapped up a great week in Vilanova i la Geltrú for the 2023 OCEANOISE conference, hosted by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya's Laboratory of Applied Bioacoustics. SATURN was very well-represented, with over 15 participants and more than 10 presenters during the conference dedicated to research around underwater noise and its impacts. Over five busy days, the conference held sessions on the sound and noise generated by impulsive activities, renewable energy, shipping, sonar, and seismic activity, as well as sessions on riverine and coastal environments, mapping and modelling, soundscapes, behaviour, mitigation, and pathology.
Left: A schedule of SATURN presentations. Right: SATURN researchers at the UPC Vilanova campus conference room.
SATURN research leads Eric Baudin (Bureau Veritas) and Christ de Jong (TNO) led the session on Shipping, while other SATURN researchers gave talks in sessions dedicated to Soundscapes, Behaviour, Mitigation, and Sensitivity & Pathology.
Presentations from SATURN project researchers included:
Sound particle motion modelling and mapping (Christ de Jong, TNO)
URN measurements in the SATURN project (Roberto Yubero, TSI)
How to silence ships - preliminary results from the SATURN project (Frans Hendrik Lafeber)
Acoustic monitoring of the North Adriatic Sea: a transnational assessment run in the Mediterranean Sea (Marta Picciulin, CNR-ISMAR)
Assessing the impact of ship traffic noise on short-fin pilot whales in South Tenerife: implications for conservation and management (Olivia Marín Delgado, University of La Laguna)
Underwater noise management in perspective (Nathan Merchant, CEFAS)
Vessel noise exposure impacts harbour porpoise energy balance (Laia Rojano-Doñate, Aarhus University)
Small reductions in cargo vessel speed dramatically reduce noise impacts to marine wildlife (Charlotte Findlay, Aarhus University)
AquaVib: a laboratory setup for exposing aquatic organisms to low-frequency noise (Pablo Pla Caro, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya · BarcelonaTech)
Correlation between permanent noise-induced hearing loss and cochlear damage in a harbour seal (Maria Morell, ITAW TiHo)
The SATURN Virtual Research Environment: tools for noise mitigation (José Antonio Diaz, PLOCAN)
OCEANOISE 2023 was a wonderful opportunity to connect with researchers around the world involved in assessing and mitigating underwater noise and its impacts on aquatic organisms. It was a great pleasure to share the research that has been conducted as part of the EU-funded SATURN project over this busy week!
Learn more about OCEANOISE on their website, or see the full Book of Abstracts here. We look forward to next year’s event in 2024!
Photos below by Eric Baudin, Bureau Veritas.