GLIDER SURVEILLANCE FOR NEAR-REAL-TIME DETECTION AND SPATIAL MANAGEMENT OF NORTH ATLANTIC RIGHT WHALES

Successful area-based ocean management relies on longterm, persistent biological monitoring using reliable ocean observation assets. Underwater electric gliders fill a unique monitoring niche compared to other platforms because they can autonomously survey across diverse environments— from shallow coastal waters to remote offshore areas—for weeks to months at a time. Gliders equipped with passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) devices are capable of robust, continuous near-real-time monitoring of numerous species of whales. Here, we highlight five case studies to discuss how gliders are being used for area-based monitoring of the internationally migratory and critically endangered North Atlantic right whale to address several different spatial management objectives. Examples include dynamic management of shipping zones and fishery-area closures in Canadian waters, glider-based monitoring in the United States to mitigate vessel strikes and fishing gear entangle-ments, surveys to assess whale habitat use near offshore wind energy development areas in the northeastern United States, and surveillance of the coastal calving grounds in the southeastern United States. These examples illustrate how PAM-equipped gliders are being used to monitor an endangered cetacean species with complex conservation management needs across its range. These assets are supporting risk reduction measures across diverse regions, and their use is likely to continue to expand in support of species conservation and threat mitigation.