Sound Monitoring

diver attaching a sound recorder to a bouy
Timothy Rowell secures sound recorder to mooring in Florida Keys. Photo: Ben Edmonds

NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries maintains a nationally coordinated underwater sound monitoring network across the National Marine Sanctuary System. We work with partners to study sound within ten existing and two proposed national marine sanctuaries off the US East Coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, off the West Coast and in the Pacific Islands region. Recordings and standardized sound measurements are available through the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information’s Passive Acoustic Archive. The ONMS Sound network supports the program’s understanding and protection of sanctuaries including:

  • restoration efforts
  • effectiveness of and compliance with regulations
  • quantifying sanctuary usages
  • assessing human impacts
maps highlighting the locations of sound monitoring: Stellwagen Bank, Gray's Reef, Florida Keys, Flower Garden Banks, Olympic Coast, Cordell Bank, Monterey Bay, Channel Islands, and Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuaries, the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary and, and areas of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument
Monitoring is taking place in Stellwagen Bank, Gray's Reef, Florida Keys, and Flower Garden Banks national marine sanctuaries (Eastern Region); Olympic Coast, Cordell Bank, Monterey Bay, and Channel Islands national marine sanctuaries (West Coast Region); proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary (West Coast Region), and Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, and areas of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument proposed for designation as a national marine sanctuary (Pacific Islands Region). Maps: NOAA
People on a research vessel leaning over the side of the vessel to deploy a piece of equipment attached to a buoy with a rope.
Eden Zang and Marc Lammers deploy sound recorder in Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary. Photo: Ed Lyman/NOAA
a person prepares a mooring for deployment off the back of a boat
Lindsey Peavey Reeves prepares sound recorder for deployment in Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Photo. Photo: NOAA

For more information, contact:

National Coordinator
Leila Hatch
[email protected]

West Coast Region Coordinator
Lindsey Peavey Reeves
[email protected]

Eastern Region Coordinator
Timothy Rowell
[email protected]

Pacific Islands Region Coordinator
Eden Zang
[email protected]