Acoustic monitoring of coastal dolphins and their response to naval mine neutralization exercises.

To investigate the potential impacts of naval mine neutralization exercises (MINEX) on odontocete cetaceans, a long-term passive acoustic monitoring study was conducted at a US Navy training range near Virginia Beach, USA. Bottom-moored acoustic recorders were deployed in 2012-2016 near the epicentre of MINEX training activity and were refurbished every 2-4 months. Recordings were analysed for the daily presence/absence of dolphins, and dolphin acoustic activity was quantified in detail for the hours and days before and after 31 MINEX training events.