Dr. Roxanne Beltran, PhD

Measuring sounds produced and received by animals are critical to their conservation. Bioacoustics are especially important in the ocean, where darkness at night and depth make visual cues less useful for animal communication, foraging, and predator avoidance. I propose to oversee the development of a novel acoustic recording tag and attach it to free-ranging elephant seals during their 10,000 km foraging trips in the Pacific Ocean. This technological innovation will reveal the soundscape of the open ocean and open doors for future long-term data collection on other species and in other areas, which will allow time sensitive environmental and conservation applications.