Smart-PAM A subsea buoy for real-time acoustic observation of marine ecosystems

Smart-PAM aims to develop an ‘intelligent and communicating’ buoy for real-time, subsea acoustic observation of the marine environment to help maintain marine ecosystems in a healthy state.

The proposed solution will make it technically possible to:

- Exploit the diversity of undersea sounds to indicate the presence of marine mammals and other noise-generating species (benthos, etc.);

- Provide indicators of anthropic pressure linked to noises generated by maritime activity.

An initial prototype has been developed in partnership with the company SONSECT, a spin-off of the Bio-acoustic Applications Lab at Barcelona Polytechnic in Spain, and the French Marine Protected Areas Agency. The project is based on the existing research and is part of a pilot project in partnership with the Agoa sanctuary in the French Antilles.

The purpose of the buoy, as well as to establish biological and ecological parameters, is to help Agoa technical operators and managers to put adequate measures in place for conserving cetaceans.

Lastly, another dimension of the project is to communicate with the general public via a web interface, which will enable anyone visiting the site to hear undersea sounds, monitor the presence of marine mammals and view sound maps.

The Smart-PAM project was submitted in response to the Call for Projects issued by Ademe as part of its biodiversity initiative for SMEs (Initiative Biodiversité PME)