Acoustic Telemetry

Acoustic Telemetry uses a large network of strategically located acoustic receivers in waters around Australia to detect and track tagged animals. This network typically consists of two main types of deployments, large cross shelf arrays or curtains and clustered arrays around local areas such as reefs, headlands, and estuaries. Historically, the ability to track the movements of animals has primarily relied upon the recapture and reporting of tagged individuals at both small and large scales. The use of a network of acoustic receivers that allow the detection of tagged animals in near real-time provides a powerful tool for observing animal movements in Australian coastal and continental shelf ecosystems.

Acoustic Telemetry makes it possible for animals to be monitored over scales of 100s of metres to 100s of Kilometres, informing habitat use, home range size, effectiveness of marine protected areas, refinement of stock assessment and migratory patterns. Additionally, the creation and continuation of the Animal Tracking Database provides a central repository of acoustic tag detections and metadata from Australia, increasing collaboration of acoustic telemetry researchers and institutes and increased access to animal movement data.