ARION, a LIFE+ project for coastal dolphin conservation in the Ligurian Sea: configuration, installation, calibration, first results.

Description

The ARION main objective is the creation of a virtual corridor for monitoring and surveillance of transient and resident bottlenose dolphins ({Tursiops truncatus). We deployed in the Portofino MPA two detection units, based on a particular type of marine buoy (elastic beacon) each equipped with four hydrophones and an acquisition system which can record the typical social communication whistles emitted by the dolphins and the sounds emitted by boat engines. Signals are pre-filtered and sent on shore, using a wi-fi bridge, where they are elaborated to get the position of dolphins and track the boats in real-time.

Additional details