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The rapid emergence of new marine developments (e.g., marine renewables, port infrastructure) alongside the substantial growth of existing industries has ultimately resulted in an unprecedented increase in anthropogenic structures within the marine environment over the previous century. Knowledge of whether marine species interact with, avoid, or accommodate and adapt to such structures is essential to ensure that further development of marine environments do not compromise conservation objectives of marine species. This article documents one such interaction. Herein, we describe the observation of a harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) seeking refuge from a group of foraging killer whales (Orcinus orca) within a blue (aka common) mussel (Mytilus edulis) farm. Aerial video footage (38 min 27 s) was collected using an unmanned aerial system during an encounter at an aquaculture site in Gulberwick Bay, Shetland, UK. Analysis of the footage showed the killer whale group spent 73.7% of the total encounter time exhibiting predatory associated behaviours and that they were observed interacting with the mussel farm infrastructure only during “predation activity” for a total of 26 min 52 s (72.8%). The harbour seal interacted with the mussel farm infrastructure during re- and proactive anti-predator behaviour and when exhibiting fatigue for 27 min 59 s, 94.4% of the total time the seal was observed. It is clear that both marine and terrestrial predator–prey interactions are increasingly occurring in settings that are in some way defined by the Anthropocene. The implications of this are discussed, including potential entanglement risk and human-altered “landscapes of fear.” As comprehension of the potential effects of human-altered risk grows, such knowledge should be taken into consideration prior to further modification of marine habitats.

From midnight of 26 March 2020, New Zealand became one of the first countries to enter a strict lockdown to combat the spread of COVID-19. The lockdown banned all non-essential services and travel both on land and sea. Overnight, the country's busiest coastal waterway, the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, became devoid of almost all recreational and non-essential commercial vessels. An almost instant change in the marine soundscape ensued, with ambient sound levels in busy channels dropping nearly threefold the first 12 h. This sudden drop led fish and dolphins to experience an immediate increase in their communication ranges by up to an estimated 65%. Very low vessel activity during the lockdown (indicated by the presence of vessel noise over the day) revealed new insights into cumulative noise effects from vessels on auditory masking. For example, at sites nearer Auckland City, communication ranges increased approximately 18 m (22%) or 50 m (11%) for every 10% decrease in vessel activity for fish and dolphins, respectively. However, further from the city and in deeper water, these communication ranges were increased by approximately 13 m (31%) or 510 m (20%). These new data demonstrate how noise from small vessels can impact underwater soundscapes and how marine animals will have to adapt to ever-growing noise pollution.

Marine vessel traffic is one of the main sources of negative anthropogenic impact upon marine environments. The automatic identification of boats in monitoring images facilitates conservation, research and patrolling efforts. However, the diverse sizes of vessels, the highly dynamic water surface and weather-related visibility issues significantly hinder this task. While recent deep learning (DL)-based object detectors identify well medium- and large-sized boats, smaller vessels, often responsible for substantial disturbance to sensitive marine life, are typically not detected. We propose a detection approach that combines state-of-the-art object detectors and a novel Detector of Small Marine Vessels (DSMV) to identify boats of any size. The DSMV uses a short time series of images and a novel bi-directional Gaussian Mixture technique to determine motion in combination with context-based filtering and a DL-based image classifier. Experimental results obtained on our novel datasets of images containing boats of various sizes show that the proposed approach comfortably outperforms five popular state-of-the-art object detectors. Code and datasets available at https://github.com/tunai/hybrid-boat-detection.

18 pages, 5 figures, supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109175.-- The data supporting the findings of this study are available in the Supplementary Materials (Appendix 3–5, Table A3-A5). Raw datasets (where available) and results summary tables for each analysis of human mobility and empirical datasets are deposited in a github repository: https://github.com/rjcommand/PAN-Environment, The global lockdown to mitigate COVID-19 pandemic health risks has altered human interactions with nature. Here, we report immediate impacts of changes in human activities on wildlife and environmental threats during the early lockdown months of 2020, based on 877 qualitative reports and 332 quantitative assessments from 89 different studies. Hundreds of reports of unusual species observations from around the world suggest that animals quickly responded to the reductions in human presence. However, negative effects of lockdown on conservation also emerged, as confinement resulted in some park officials being unable to perform conservation, restoration and enforcement tasks, resulting in local increases in illegal activities such as hunting. Overall, there is a complex mixture of positive and negative effects of the pandemic lockdown on nature, all of which have the potential to lead to cascading responses which in turn impact wildlife and nature conservation. While the net effect of the lockdown will need to be assessed over years as data becomes available and persistent effects emerge, immediate responses were detected across the world. Thus initial qualitative and quantitative data arising from this serendipitous global quasi-experimental perturbation highlights the dual role that humans play in threatening and protecting species and ecosystems. Pathways to favorably tilt this delicate balance include reducing impacts and increasing conservation effectiveness, The Canada Research Chairs program provided funding for the core writing team. Field research funding was provided by A.G. Leventis Foundation; Agence Nationale de la Recherche, [grant number ANR-18-32–0010CE-01 (JCJC PEPPER)]; Agencia Estatal de Investigaci; Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação (ARDITI), [grant number M1420-09-5369-FSE-000002]; Alan Peterson; ArcticNet; Arkadaşlar; Army Corp of Engineers; Artificial Reef Program; Australia's Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), National Collaborative; Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), University of Tasmania; Australian Institute of Marine Science; Australian Research Council, [grant number LP140100222]; Bai Xian Asia Institute; Batubay Özkan; BC Hydro Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; Bertarelli Foundation; Bertarelli Programme in Marine Science; Bilge Bahar; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Biology Society of South Australia; Boston University; Burak Över; California State Assembly member Patrick O'Donnell; California State University Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology; California State University Long Beach; Canada Foundation for Innovation (Major Science Initiative Fund and funding to Oceans Network Canada), [grant number MSI 30199 for ONC]; Cape Eleuthera Foundation; Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique; Charles Darwin Foundation, [grant number 2398]; Colombian Institute for the Development of Science and Technology (COLCIENCIAS), [grant number 811–2018]; Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, [grant number 0041–2020]; Columbia Basin Trust; Commission for Environmental Cooperation; Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Cultural practices and environmental certification of beaches, Universidad de la Costa, Colombia, [grant number INV.1106–01–002-15, 2020–21]; Department of Conservation New Zealand; Direction de l'Environnement de Polynésie Française; Disney Conservation Fund; DSI-NRF Centre of; Excellence at the FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology; Ecology Project International; Emin Özgür; Environment and Climate Change Canada; European Community: RTD programme - Species Support to Policies; European Community's Seventh Framework Programme; European Union; European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Marie Skłodowska-Curie, [grant number 798091, 794938]; Faruk Eczacıbaşı; Faruk Yalçın Zoo; Field research funding was provided by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology; Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program; Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, [grant numbers FWC-12164, FWC-14026, FWC-19050]; Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional; Fonds québécois de la recherche nature et technologies; Foundation Segré; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT Portugal); Galapagos National Park Directorate research, [grant number PC-41-20]; Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, [grant number GBMF9881 and GBMF 8072]; Government of Tristan da Cunha; Habitat; Conservation Trust Foundation; Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment; Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, Sevastopol, Russia; Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt; Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE), Brazil; Israeli Academy of Science's Adams Fellowship; King Family Trust; Labex, CORAIL, France; Liber Ero Fellowship; LIFE (European Union), [grant number LIFE16 NAT/BG/000874]; María de Maeztu Program for Units of Excellence in R&D; Ministry of Science and Innovation, FEDER, SPASIMM,; Spain, [grant number FIS2016–80067-P (AEI/FEDER, UE)]; MOE-Korea, [grant number 2020002990006]; Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund; Montreal Space for Life; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth and Space Science Fellowship Program; National Geographic Society, [grant numbers NGS-82515R-20]; National Natural Science Fund of China; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; National Parks Board, Singapore; National Science and Technology Major Project of China; National Science Foundation, [grant number DEB-1832016]; Natural Environment Research Council of the UK; Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Alliance COVID-19 grant program, [grant numbers ALLRP 550721–20, RGPIN-2014-06229 (year: 2014), RGPIN-2016-05772 (year: 2016)]; Neiser Foundation; Nekton Foundation; Network of Centre of Excellence of Canada: ArcticNet; North Family Foundation; Ocean Tracking Network; Ömer Külahçıoğlu; Oregon State University; Parks Canada Agency (Lake Louise, Yoho, and Kootenay Field Unit); Pew Charitable Trusts; Porsim Kanaf partnership; President's International Fellowship Initiative for postdoctoral researchers Chinese Academy of Sciences, [grant number 2019 PB0143]; Red Sea Research Center; Regional Government of the Azores, [grant number M3.1a/F/025/2015]; Regione Toscana; Rotary Club of Rhinebeck; Save our Seas Foundation; Science & Technology (CSU COAST); Science City Davos, Naturforschende Gesellschaft Davos; Seha İşmen; Sentinelle Nord program from the Canada First Research Excellence Fund; Servizio Foreste e Fauna (Provincia Autonoma di Trento); Sigrid Rausing Trust; Simon Fraser University; Sitka Foundation; Sivil Toplum Geliştirme Merkezi Derneği; South African National Parks (SANParks); South Australian Department for Environment and Water; Southern California Tuna Club (SCTC); Spanish Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation; State of California; Sternlicht Family Foundation; Suna Reyent; Sunshine Coast Regional Council; Tarea Vida, CEMZOC, Universidad de Oriente, Cuba, [grant number 10523, 2020]; Teck Coal; The Hamilton Waterfront Trust; The Ian Potter Foundation, Coastwest, Western Australian State NRM; The Red Sea Development Company; The Wanderlust Fund; The Whitley Fund; Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline; Tula Foundation (Hakai Institute); University of Arizona; University of Pisa; US Fish and Wildlife Service; US Geological Survey; Valencian Regional Government; Vermont Center for Ecostudies; Victorian Fisheries Authority; VMRC Fishing License Fund; and Wildlife Warriors Worldwide, With funding from the Spanish government through the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S

Warming weather conditions in the Arctic are already resulting in changes in both sea ice extent and thickness. The resulting extended ‘open water’ season has many implications for vessel traffic and marine life. For example, an increase in vessel traffic due to ice-free waters will most likely lead to an increased risk of impact on cetaceans through increased noise pollution, strike risk for some cetacean species, and the possibility of exposure to chemical pollutants. The objective of this study was to pre-empt a predicted increase in vessels by investigating and exploring possible management scenarios, with the aim of mitigating negative impacts on locally important species such as bowhead and beluga whales. Utilizing insights gained from established vessel management schemes in more southerly regions, this paper evaluates the current suite of tools being implemented and their appropriateness for implementation in a more extreme Arctic environment.

To support optimal monitoring and enforcement investment, management aimed at minimizing disturbance to wildlife requires an understanding of how regulatory compliance might vary spatially as well as across species and human-user groups. In the Salish Sea, humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) and two ecotypes (southern resident and Bigg's) of killer whales (Orcinus orca) now interact with a large and growing number of small commercial and recreational vessels that partake in whale watching. Those vessels often approach close to cetaceans and thus pose risk via collision, marine noise and pollution, exposure to which may result in disturbance, injury and death. The primary management tool for mitigating impacts is minimum distance regulations. Compliance, however, is poorly understood. We examined commercial and recreational small vessel compliance with viewing distances across two seasons (June–September 2018 and 2019) in over ≈404 h of on-water observation. Overall vessel compliance was nearly 80%, but several distinct patterns emerged. Recreational boats were significantly more likely to violate distance regulations and boaters were more likely to be non-compliant around killer whales. Compliance did not vary with day of week or time of day. Spatially, non-compliance was concentrated in waters closer to coastal communities. Collectively, these patterns suggest that optimal enforcement could be targeted to identify areas of high non-compliance, especially for killer whales, with effort spread across days and times. Finally, we discuss how investments in education could target recreational boaters at a time when multiple and interacting stressors are accumulating in the Salish Sea.

A partnership of the Gitga'at First Nation, WWF-Canada and the North Coast Cetacean Society has installed a long baseline hydrophone array in Squally Channel; a culturally, ecologically, and economically important marine environment in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada. The array consists of four synchronized bottom-mounted hydrophones that permanently record and radio-transmit data to a land-based laboratory in real-time. The array covers an area of approximately 200 km2 to realize long-term and wide-range monitoring of marine mammals. To allow for efficient data analysis, automated detectors for cetacean vocalizations have been developed in collaboration with the University of Victoria. The detection performance has been tested using manually annotated data. We present an overview of the detectors for orca and humpback whales, and their computational and analytic performance as a function of signal-to-noise ratio. The ability to adapt to different ocean environments and target species is demonstrated by applying the detectors to 100 days of archival acoustic data recorded at two different places along the BC coast. Data recorded during pilot studies in 2017 from Squally Channel (approximately 30 days) is used to provide an overview of cetacean vocalization detections. Finally, we show acoustic activity variations and trends based on environmental factors.

Marine Spatial Planning attempts to develop integrated planning frameworks for the management of activities within marine ecosystems and support sustainable development. This study demonstrates the application and testing of an existing multiple-use zoning scheme within Scottish territorial waters. The zoning scheme developed is based on integrating existing legally permitted management mechanisms to develop a series of zones where increasing number of activities are restricted. When applied, the zoning scheme allows for assessment of the ability of current governance mechanisms to cope with the increasing number of activities and developments in the marine environment and the pressures associated with them. The zoning scheme was tested by evaluating how the zones defined relate to the protection of features of conservation interest. Specifically, it was tested by determining the proportion of the five rarest marine landscapes as classified by UKSeaMap 2010 and also a selection of OSPAR Priority Marine Features that fell within different zones within Scottish waters.

Chronic anthropogenic underwater noise, such as vessel noise, is now recognized as a world-wide problem. Marine noise from vessels, ranging from super tankers to small motorboats is increasingly recognized as being both a persistent and pervasive pollutant. Furthermore, due to its spatial and temporal variability, vessel noise pollution represents a particular challenge for marine conservation, management, and planning. This paper presents the outputs of a horizon scanning exercise that brought together a group of 40 individuals from across Canada, including: researchers, policy makers, NGOs and other end-users who work in the field of marine acoustics. The goal was to identify priority information needs, related to marine vessel acoustics, to inform new research and address policy needs. Via an iterative Delphi style process, participants identified 10 priority research questions related to marine vessel acoustic science; for example, How important is it to identify and maintain acoustic refugia? What attributes of marine vessels are the most effective indicators of marine noise? The questions were then further considered in terms of extent of current knowledge, time scale by which they can be achieved, the financial resources required and the importance of answering the question. Subsequently, the authors conducted a search of the peer-reviewed literature to situate the challenges highlighted by the horizon scanning exercise within the broader global research. Results show that investigating the attributes of marine vessels that are the most effective indicators of marine noise is a viable research question to tackle first. In addition, underpinning many of these questions is the need of long-term data collection and monitoring of both vessel traffic and marine mammal populations.

This study examined the level of management complexity (simultaneously occurring licensed human activities) within the currently designated Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Scottish waters and through modelling and statistical analysis determined which variables play an important role in defining the level of management effort required for each MPA. This study utilised surveyed distribution data for Priority Marine Features and modelled distribution data showing potential “Most Suitable” Priority Marine Feature habitat through the species distribution model, Maxent. Prediction indicators were developed through Spearman׳s Rank coefficients and a linear regression model. Results showed that, (1) there was a significant negative correlation between the management complexity score within 5 km of a MPA and the number of casework events (defined as any work or statutory consultation associated with an MPA, such as planning applications, discharges or new fisheries); and (2) a significant positive correlation between the number of casework events and location, number of features, and the type of features and most suitable scores. Calculations showed that Lochs Duich, Long and Alsh, Loch Sunart, Loch Sween and Loch Creran may potentially require most effort to manage once they are designated as MPAs. This study showed that it is possible to evaluate options within an MPA network to achieve cost effective options for the biodiversity and socio-economic objectives of MPA networks and that some MPAs are likely to be more efficient than others in terms of management time.

Orcasound lab is a cabled hydrophone array located near the shoreline of Haro Strait, the core summertime habitat of the endangered southern resident killer whales (SRKWs). In 2016–2017, we began to record data continuously on local hard drives and in 2018 are archiving both lossy and lossless data 24/7 in an AWS/S3 bucket. We discuss our statistical characterization of the soundscape from these continuous audio recordings, contextualized with the AIS data (to quantify sources of ship noise) and image data (to quantify sources of non-AIS boat noise). Of particular interest to ocean observatories are our methods of establishing non-anthropogenic acoustic baselines and then ranking noise pollution sources relative to these baselines. We explore the statistical consequences of selecting different averaging times (from seconds to years) and frequency band widths (spectrum to broadband levels) when computing baselines and pollution metrics, including “delta” metrics that may be most-relevant to SRKWs. Finally, we explain how soundscape analysis (with attention to tidal, diurnal, seasonal, or decadal time variations) could be implemented with cloud-based data in near-real-time and be enriched by citizen scientists interacting with a time-stamped live audio stream and other environmental data.

The culture of marine species has been steadily increasing since the early 1970s, especially over the last 20 years, when the total biomass of captured wild fish started to stabilize. The growth in human population and the pressures on wild stocks, combined with increased interest in aquatic products and diversification, have been the impetus for this development. Concerns associated with this rapid development, especially in regard to its sustainability, have focused primarily on the direct and indirect environmental impacts of farming (biological, chemical, and physical), as well as on any effects these increases in production may have on fish-meal requirements. As the industry matures, there is progressive accumulation of knowledge not just in regard to potential impacts but also in regard to methods, approaches, and regulatory instruments that can ensure progress toward the sustainability of the industry. Challenges such as the diversification in species culture, the competition with other coastal activities, both for space and for environmental quality, and interactions with wildlife have led to the development of new approaches, new research, and the implementation and establishment of voluntary and statutory instruments, such as codes of practice, locational guidelines, and environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures. The key areas for the continued sustainable development of aquaculture include some of the areas that have been the focus of much work already, such as genetic interactions of farmed and wild populations (including reduction of escapes), management of disease, especially of disease transfer between farmed and wild populations, improved husbandry practice to minimize the effects of culture (e.g., organic matter, nutrients, and chemicals), reduction of dependency on wild taxa for seed collection and for feedstuffs, and control of introduction of alien species. It is important to stress that significant progress has been made in all of these areas over the last few years. The expansion into farming of a diverse range of species and intensification in certain geographical areas has highlighted the importance of addressing these key topics. As new species are introduced, it is important that the relevance of current management and regulatory procedures is assessed and any amendments implemented. The development of new feeds, new vaccines and treatments, offshore aquaculture, and integrated multi-trophic aquaculture are all promising areas of development where currently much progress is being made.