Citizen Science: Acoustic Monitoring

Parks are places where people can escape from manufactured, anthropogenic sounds and listen to natural sounds. Soundscapes are the combination of sounds found in a place—bird songs, flowing water, lapping waves, and yes, the extent to which our human world is present (noise from traffic, planes, and other anthropogenic sounds). Acoustic monitoring can tell us how much anthropogenic sounds are detected in the park and how that changes over time. We can also use our acoustic monitors to gather information about species that might be visually hard to identify. Year-round the park, in coordination with Alaska Department of Fish and Game, we monitor echolocation calls of bats along Indian River. More seasonally, we monitor the park’s soundscape by using a Terrestrial Acoustic Monitor to gauge the extent in which human noise and what natural noises are present within the park. We also have a hydrophone deployed underwater to listen to the soundscape of our intertidal zone.