"Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) has been increasingly used for detection of cetaceans during shipboard surveys by National Marine Fisheries Science Centers. Unfortunately, much of our required equipment cannot be purchased 'off the shelf', and there are few resources for constructing, troubleshooting, and repairing equipment. The Southwest Fisheries Science Center has been conducting shipboard towed hydrophone array surveys since 2000, and we have been designing and building our own equipment since 2002. As additional Science Centers increase their usage of this technology at sea, we are finding that it is difficult to obtain functioning equipment with the time and resources typically provided prior to a given survey. In an effort to share our combined knowledge and take advantage of our limited resources, we are developing a standardized methodology for passive acoustic surveys that includes modular hardware and software systems that can be used during shipboard surveys"-Introduction.

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