This project investigated the use of a new low-cost drifter technology to monitor the activity and depth distribution of harbour porpoises frequenting the Minas Passage and Minas Channel.

Porpoise activity was assessed through the analysis of recently collected field data from a drifter fitted with two synced hydrophones. The researchers conducted a two-day field test using a drifting vertical array of four synchronized hydrophones, equipped with GPS, to quantify how porpoises use the water column in Minas Passage. The project also assessed the utility and practicality of drifters as a viable monitoring platform at time scales of weeks to months for future environmental effects monitoring use.