Tracking cetaceans while catching crustaceans
Photo credit: Gear ready to be deployed with the acoustic recording devices attached. HWDT copyright.
A new Scottish pilot project is testing a practical new approach to marine wildlife monitoring by combining fishing activity with underwater listening technology.
Led by the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust, the Creeling for Sounds initiative brings together creel fishermen and marine scientists to trial underwater acoustic recorders attached to working creel pots. The aim is to find out whether routine creel fishing can also support year-round monitoring of whales, dolphins and porpoises.
These species depend on sound to navigate, feed and communicate, yet they are difficult to track consistently, especially during winter months. Passive acoustic monitoring provides a low-disturbance way to detect their presence and to measure changes in the underwater soundscape, including growing levels of human-made noise.
A key feature of the project is close collaboration with local fishing communities. Creel fishermen are helping test deployment and retrieval methods under real conditions, refine how recorders are mounted, and ensure the equipment fits smoothly into normal fishing operations. The trials are assessing both the quality of the recordings and the day-to-day practicality, including whether gear noise affects the data.
The work is supported by the Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund through the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund. If the method proves effective, it could support wider, low-impact marine mammal monitoring while building stronger partnerships between researchers, fisheries and coastal communities.
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