Abstract
This report provides a summary of the outcomes from the New York Bight (NYB) Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) Data Synthesis Workshop convened by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), with support from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), on October 19th, 20th, and 22nd 2020. The workshop brought together local, state, and regional research and government organizations to explore a collaborative initiative for establishing coordinated and optimal PAM research priorities. These priorities would have the potential to inform the development of a regional framework on PAM efforts in the NYB and surrounding Mid-Atlantic region. The discussions focused on: 1) outlining and establishing commonalities in current NYB PAM data resources and identifying opportunities for collaboration and data synthesis; 2) exploring the importance of data collection and analysis standardization across projects; and 3) identifying PAM research priorities and opportunities to collaborate moving forward, both within the NYB, as well as across the Mid-Atlantic region. Overall, the workshop was successful in meeting stated objectives, and all major data holders are interested in further coordination and collaboration so that datasets can be maximized and integrated across areas within the NYB. However, as a number of PAM projects are either now finished or due to be completed in the next 1–2 years, the lack of dedicated funding to support any collaborative PAM projects was identified as a potential barrier to moving forward. Nonetheless, a number of priorities for collaboration and synthesis using currently available data were identified, that, if funded, have the potential to provide an important foundation for both local and regional-scale PAM coordination for monitoring and mitigation. The development of reporting standards and a shared data repository (ideally on a regional level) was identified as key for maximizing data resources and facilitating data sharing across projects and would essentially provide the framework for coordinated PAM projects moving forward. Other projects that could be initiated with moderate amounts of funding would involve synthesizing all available PAM data and integrating and contrasting with other data sources (visual surveys and environmental data) to establish a baseline understanding of cetacean distribution and interaction with environmental variables in the NYB. All participants supported the need for a project focused on investigating ship strike risk and shipping noise-related impacts to cetaceans. Although a project on ship strike risk and noise impacts may require substantial resources, it is vital information for mitigation and management decisions for the heavily trafficked NYB and particularly as offshore wind (OSW) development expands in the region in coming years. Moving forward, there are a number of recommendations to further the workshop discussions and create momentum for NYB and even regional scale PAM data coordination and collaboration. Development of local and/or regional PAM data standards and a shared data repository are key aspects and would provide a foundation for collaboration across both local and regional projects. The other priority projects identified through the workshop could be further developed and refined in a working group composed of interested workshop participants, that could identify and pursue potential funding sources for synthesis efforts. The final recommendation, to develop a NYB (and ideally regional) PAM network with standardized data collection and reporting standards, so that long-term, broad-scale questions could be answered and used to inform mitigation and best practices, would require more significant resources but may be possible within the context of forthcoming OSW activities and funding in the NYB.