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Summary: Machine learning has been advancing dramatically over the past decade. Most strides are human-based applications due to the availability of large-scale datasets; however, opportunities are ripe to apply this technology to more deeply understand non-human communication. We detail a scientific roadmap for advancing the understanding of communication of whales that can be built further upon as a template to decipher other forms of animal and non-human communication. Sperm whales, with their highly developed neuroanatomical features, cognitive abilities, social structures, and discrete click-based encoding make for an excellent model for advanced tools that can be applied to other animals in the future. We outline the key elements required for the collection and processing of massive datasets, detecting basic communication units and language-like higher-level structures, and validating models through interactive playback experiments. The technological capabilities developed by such an undertaking hold potential for cross-applications in broader communities investigating non-human communication and behavioral research.

There is a growing need for marine biodiversity baseline and monitoring data to assess ocean ecosystem health, especially in the deep sea, where data are notoriously sparse. Baited cameras are a biological observing method especially useful in the deep ocean to estimate relative abundances of scavenging fishes and invertebrates. The National Geographic Society Exploration Technology Lab developed an autonomous benthic lander platform with a baited camera system to conduct stationary video surveys of deep-sea megafauna. The first-generation landers were capable of sampling to full ocean depth, however, the form factor, power requirements, and cost of the system limited deployment opportunities. Therefore, a miniaturized version (76 cm × 76 cm × 36 cm, 18 kg in air) was developed to provide a cost-effective method to observe ocean life to 6000 m depth. Here, we detail this next-generation deep-sea camera system, including the structural design, scientific payload, and the procedures for deployment. We provide an overview of NGS deep-sea camera system deployments over the past decade with a focus on the performance improvements of the next-generation system, which began field operations in 2017 and have performed 264 deployments. We present example imagery and discuss the strengths and limitations of the instrument in the context of existing complementary survey methods, and for use in down-stream data products. The key operational advantages of this new instrument are spatial flexibility and cost-efficiency. The instrument can be hand-deployed by a single operator from a small craft concurrent with other shipboard operations. The main limitation of the system is battery power, which allows for 6 h of continuous recording, and takes up to 8 h to recharge between deployments. Like many baited-camera methods, this instrument is specialized to measure the relative abundance of mobile megafauna that are attracted to bait, which results in a stochastic snapshot of the species at the deployment location and time. The small size and ease of deployment of this next-generation camera system allows for increased sample replication on expeditions, and presents a path forward to advance cost-effective biological observing and sustained monitoring in the deep ocean.