Marine Mammals and Biology

The Marine Mammals and Biology (MMB) program supports basic and applied research and technology development related to understanding the effects of sound on marine mammals, including physiological, behavioral, ecological and population-level effects.

Important Notice: Upon submitting any documents to MMB by email or Grants.gov, submitters will receive a confirmation email from the MMB program office. If a confirmation email is NOT received, contact the MMB point of contact to verify receipt.

Research Concentration Areas

Monitoring and Detection

The MMB monitoring and detection topic goal is to improve marine mammal monitoring capabilities over current methods by developing new and existing technology such as passive acoustics, infrared, environmental DNA (eDNA), and others. Recent research efforts on passive acoustics include the development and testing of new autonomous hardware platforms and signal processing algorithms for detection, classification and localization of marine mammals. New technologies, like eDNA, offers a powerful tool to discover, map, monitor, and manage living resources by leveraging methods developed in the forensic and genetic sciences. Realizing the full potential of eDNA applications will require research and technological development include the estimation of species abundance (i.e. Navy sound effects models), implementation of autonomous eDNA technology to increase sampling efforts, and integration of eDNA products with other types of observations across space and time scales ranging from visual observations and passive acoustics to satellite remote sensing and animal telemetry. A key goal of ONR-sponsored technology development is making the technology available to the broader research and Navy communities.

Integrated Ecosystem Research

The MMB integrated ecosystem research topic seeks to understand the patterns and causes of variability in the distribution and abundance of marine mammals over space and time. This topic often utilizes a multidisciplinary approach using tagging, visual surveys and passive acoustics to collect baseline measures of marine mammal behaviors and distributions relative to environmental features and prey fields. Recent research efforts have focused on: using animal tagging and passive acoustic monitoring to study behaviors and distributions of marine mammals relative to key environmental properties (biotic and abiotic); providing a context for interpreting behavioral responses to external stimuli (i.e., anthropogenic sound); providing basic knowledge needed for predictive models of species of concern; and mapping prey fields in relation to physical features and marine mammal distribution and behavior.

• Sensing and Tag Development: The MMB program has a long-term interest in both the invention and early-stage development of new sensing technology with the goal of improving our understanding of the behavior, distribution and movements of marine mammals. Recent advancements in sensor technology and the on-going miniaturization of electronic components offer great opportunities to increase our capacity to monitor marine mammals. Additionally, attaching sensors or tags to cetaceans is particularly challenging and continues to be a focus area for MMB research efforts (see workshop reports 2018 and 2009 below).
  ONR co-hosted a tagging workshop with NOAA Fisheries, the Marine Mammal Commission, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada in September 2023. The goals of the workshop were to review key knowledge gaps and data needs regarding the movements, life history, and ecology of North Atlantic right whales (NARWs); review the history of satellite telemetry and evaluate progress in tag attachment technologies and follow-up studies; and generate knowledge to inform planning and permitting decisions regarding potential tagging of NARWs. Download: North Atlantic Right Whale Tagging Workshop Report

• ONR, in partnership with the International Whaling Commission and NOAA, hosted a workshop on cetacean tag developments, tag follow-up and tagging best practices on September 6-8, 2017, and a follow-up smaller workshop on June 19-20, 2018. Download: Report of the Joint U.S. Office of Naval Research, International Whaling Commission and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Workshop on Cetacean Tag Development, Tag Follow-up and Tagging Best Practices

  ONR hosted a workshop March 16-17, 2009, to discuss tag design and attachment issues with researchers, tag makers, veterinarians and the permitting agency. Download: Final Workshop Proceedings for the Cetacean Tag Design Workshop

Effects of Sound on Marine Life

The goal of the effects of sound on marine life topic is to better understand and characterize the behavioral, physiological (hearing and stress response) and potentially population-level consequences of sound exposure on marine life.

• Behavioral Response Studies (BRS): The MMB program’s goal is to safely study the behavioral responses of marine mammals to naval sources and other anthropogenic sounds. This will allow the community to better understand and characterize the causal chain of events leading from sound exposure to “biologically significant” behavioral reactions that might increase risks of population-level effects and/or the potential for stranding. Recent interdisciplinary research efforts have focused on defining/characterizing behavioral effects of sound exposure on tagged whales and untagged smaller delphinids to measure the exposure required to elicit responses that are safe but indicate the potential for risk.

• Diving Physiology: The MMB program’s goal is a better understanding of the gas management and kinetics (stores and use) in marine mammals. These mechanisms that enable marine mammals to dive to deep depths for long durations while mitigating, if not avoiding, health threats. It has recently been suggested that diving mammals vary their physiological responses according to multiple stressors, which suggests several avenues for further study ranging from the effects of gas bubbles at molecular, cellular and organ function levels to comparative studies relating the presence or absence of gas bubbles to diving behavior. Also, technological advances in imaging and remote instrumentation would potentially benefit the topic area.

• Physiological Stress Response: Prolonged exposure of marine mammals to stressors may result in immune system suppression, reproductive failure, accelerated aging and slowed growth. The MMB program’s goal is to develop an understanding of the natural variation of stress markers, better understand and characterize the relationships among hormones or other biomarkers in different sample matrices, define and compare the quantitative and temporal relationships of hormones across the different matrices, and evaluate and characterize the relationship between the physiological stress response in marine mammals and acoustic exposure and ‘biologically significant’ disturbance.

  ONR hosted a workshop on Nov. 4-5, 2009 in Arlington, Va., with a report titled "Effects of Stress on Marine Mammals Exposed to Sound". The purpose of this workshop was to assemble a cross-section of researchers in the field of stress physiology and behavioral research to identify the state-of-the-art science in stress physiology as it may apply to marine mammals, identify research needs for marine mammal stress-related research, and evaluate available or developing technologies for measuring indicators of stress ultimately in free-ranging marine mammals.

• Hearing: The MMB program’s goal is to improve our understanding and measurement of auditory capabilities and sensitives of low frequency large whales to anthropogenic sound. Research under this topic to generate a large whale audiogram may include Finite Element Modeling (FEM), in-situ Auditory Evoked Potentials (AEP), and behavioral response approaches.
• Population Consequences of Acoustic Disturbance (PCAD): A major hurdle with marine mammal conservation and management is to know if, and when, measurable short-term behavioral and/or physiological responses of marine mammals to disturbance results in ‘biologically significant’ or meaningful effects on individuals and/or their populations. NRC’s 2005 report presented the Population Consequences of Acoustic Disturbance (PCAD) conceptual model, that was later expanded to the Population Consequences of Disturbance (PCOD; New et al 2013), links short-term behavioral and physiological responses to population level effects, and the subsequent NRC’s 2017 report and the Population Consequences of Multiple Stressors (PCoMS) links exposure to multiple stressors and population level effects. Active areas of research in this topic seek to develop statistical tools to allow mathematical models of the population consequences of acoustic and other disturbance, and multiple stressors, to be fitted to data from marine mammal populations and lead collaborative development of transferable models of the effects of disturbance on marine mammals.

Models & Databases

The MMB program’s models and databases for environmental compliance topic seeks to provide tools to support environmental compliance efforts and decision-making related to how marine mammals are affected by anthropogenic sounds. Recent investments have been in developing and implementing the Animal Telemetry Network (ATN)

Research Challenges and Opportunities

Pre-proposals due: 15 July 2024

Invitation full proposal: August/September 2024

Full proposals due: September/October 2024 (unless otherwise negotiated)

Proposal review/selection/notification: October 2024 - February 2025

Proposal funding date: November 2024 forward (depending on when we know our budget)

For More Information

• MMB had a program review April 22-25, 2024. (Download the Program Review Abstract Book.)
• MMB had a program review April 23 -26, 2019. (Download the Program Review Abstract Book.)
• ONR sponsored a workshop on September 11-13, 2017 with a report titled “Current Status and Future Directions of Marine Mammal Diving Physiology: Considerations for the effect of military sonar on deep-diving cetaceans." The workshop’s purpose was to review and assess the current state of knowledge regarding the mechanisms that enable marine mammals to dive for extended periods to deep depths, and the potential physiological and biochemical risk factors that may cause formation of gas emboli and increase decompression sickness risk. The workshop specifically addressed the potential risk of beaked whales exposed to mid-frequency active sonar, and evaluated the potential for other physiological risks. The workshop included MMB principal investigators whose research was presented and reviewed, and a small number of selected participants who contributed their expertise on the state of research and provided recommendations for future research priorities.
• MMB had a program review on September 11, 2017. The topic covered was diving physiology (download the Program Review Abstract Book).
• MMB hosted a program review on March 20-23, 2017. Topics covered included monitoring and detection; integrated ecosystems, sensor and tag development, effects of sound/hearing, effects of sound/physiology, and models and databases (download the Program Review Abstract Book).
• ONR cosponsored a workshop to review the status and future research needs of the behavioral responses of marine mammals to naval sonar exposure. The workshop was held April 21-22, 2015 in Monterey, California (download the Report on the Current Status and Future of Behavioral Response Research).