There are 39 species of marine mammals in China, such as various whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions and dugongs. Marine mammals have great values in ecology, conservation, scientific research, economic and social development. The study and protection of marine mammals, particularly in developed countries or regions such as Europe and the United States, are receiving widespread attention internationally.

The Unmanned Surface Vehicle developed by the research team at Ocean University of China and HydrovoX is designed to conduct acoustic surveys of marine mammals. It is a type of unmanned surface vehicles powered by solar energy and propelled by wave energy. Unmanned Surface Vehicles feature capabilities including path navigation, position holding, formation collaborating, and real-time communication. Additionally, they carry payloads for acoustics, optics, electricity and magnetism. As a result, Unmanned Surface Vehicles enable    large-scale and long-term autonomous observations in the ocean. As an advanced and widely utilized methods of unmanned surveys, Unmanned Surface Vehicles have found applications in meteorological and hydrological observations, water quality and ecological monitoring, as well as fisheries resource management.

In response to the demand for marine mammal investigations, the Unmanned Surface Vehicle Team at Ocean University of China and Tsingtao Hydrotech initiated research on key technologies for acoustic intelligent recognition in early 2021. The team developed a specialized acoustic identification payload for Unmanned Surface Vehicles and conducted dozens of routine marine surveys in the South China Sea and the Western Pacific. Currently, the payload, based on Raspberry Pi hardware, incorporates deep learning algorithms, which utilize self-contained acoustic data from the Unmanned Surface Vehicles and several open-source datasets like Watkins and WhaleFM for training. This system is capable of real-time detection of marine mammal vocalizations, identification of species, and instant transmission of acoustic features via satellite to a monitoring laboratory.

On March 16, 2023, the Unmanned Surface Vehicle Team at Ocean University of China and Tsingtao Hydrotech, along with various marine mammal research institutions, industry associations, and non-governmental organizations in China, convened in Qingdao to discuss collaboration intentions. They jointly advocated for the advancement of the marine mammal acoustic survey program with Unmanned Surface Vehicles. The proposal involves deploying Unmanned Surface Vehicles equipped with acoustic recognition payloads for a collaborative acoustic survey program of marine mammals in the South China Sea and the Western Pacific from July 2023 to June 2028 (a total of 5 years). The utilization of Unmanned Surface Vehicles for investigating, monitoring, and evaluating the status of marine mammals and their habitats can seek to reveal the sound characteristics, sonar mechanisms, sonar behavior, auditory ability, and environmental adaptation mechanisms in related regions. The plan also aims to explore the composition and distribution characteristics of marine mammals, threat status, evolutionary history, endangered mechanisms, and the evolution of echolocation features in odontocetes. The real-time data collected will contribute valuable information for research and conservation efforts focused on marine mammals in China.

Currently, the marine mammal acoustic survey program with Unmanned Surface Vehicles is progressing and being implemented in an orderly manner. We sincerely invite more organizations and individuals, both domestic and international, dedicated to the research and conservation of marine mammals to actively participate in the program! If you are interested in collaboration, please feel free to contact us.