Remote Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) technology

The acoustics emitted during offshore seismic survey and construction activities can negatively impact marine mammals, potentially causing temporary and/or permanent hearing loss, disrupted feeding and breeding cycles, and even physical injury. These activities are heavily regulated around the world.

At RPS, we’ve been protecting marine life on behalf of our clients for over 20 years. To comply with current regulations in most jurisdictions, multiple PAM operators are required on board survey vessels to monitor marine life. Human subjectivity can sometimes lead to errors, which could potentially lead to operational downtime. RPS has developed a technological solution. 

Neptune – the predictive algorithm for accurate, reliable detection of marine mammal vocalisations

To mitigate potential human error and minimise disruption to our clients’ offshore activities, we have been leading the way in the development of a more accurate and reliable Passive Acoustic Monitoring solution.

Neptune is a unique and robust algorithm for automating marine mammal detection and classification. It uses continuous acoustic monitoring during offshore exploration and construction activities, in addition to artificial intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) techniques. In partnership with Microsoft, RPS has also developed a cloud-based solution to host Neptune and its various components, enabling efficiencies and full automation scalability across the globe.

Neptune has been rigorously tested alongside professional PAM in-field operators with detection validation supported by the leading bioacoustics institutions SMRU Consulting and Ocean Science Analytics.

Improving the health, safety and wellbeing of our people

Our team has led the way in the development of remote Passive Acoustic Monitoring, including the deployment of satellite communication infrastructure to facilitate real-time streaming of acoustic data directly from the area of operation to our remote monitoring centre. RPS has led the discussion with relevant regulatory agencies to make remote acoustic monitoring an option for our clients.

For more information, please get in touch with our team using the form below.