The Effects of Behavioral Change in Response to Acoustic Disturbance on the Health of the Population of Blainville’s Beaked Whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) in the Tongue of the Ocean

The objective of this effort is to provide a model framework and initial estimate of the population level effect of sonar on Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) hereafter Md, in the Bahamas. It builds on the results from ongoing programs including the Marine Mammal Monitoring on Navy Ranges (M3R), the Behavioral Response Study (BRS), Density Estimation for Cetaceans (DECAF), Bahamas Beaked Whale Ecology Study (BBES), Linking Acoustic Tests and Tagging using statistical Estimation (LATTE), and will adapt the methodology developed by the Marine Mammal Commission (New, Moretti, David J., Hooker, Sascha K., & Simmons, Samantha E.) in coordination with the ONR Population Consequences of Acoustic Disturbance (PCAD) Working Group.