A wave glider for passive acoustic monitoring of cetaceans and anthropogenic sources in the central Mediterranean Sea
Abstract
Passive acoustic monitoring has become a widely used method to study cetaceans, especially for populations facing escalating threats from noisy human activities, including shipping traffic, fishing industry and marine constructions. Here, we conducted a study using an autonomous surface vehicle to explore the distribution and acoustic behavior of cetaceans and to characterize anthropogenic sound sources in the central Mediterranean Sea. A wave glider equipped with a single-towed acoustic recorder was deployed from 13th September 2022 to 3rd March 2023. The recording yielded 19,115 files of 460s each (approximately 2 TB), a third of which was kept for a preliminary analysis based on spectrogram visualization and audio listening. The results showed that nearly half of the dataset contained delphinid signals (Delphinidae), followed by sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), with notable hotspots in the southern Tyrrhenian and the Ionian Sea. Moreover, the almost continuous detection of anthropogenic sources highlighted the widespread acoustic impact of human activities in the area. These findings demonstrate the value of passive acoustics in the use of autonomous vehicles as a versatile tool for large-scale and long-term monitoring, offering a promising approach to support conservation efforts for vulnerable species while advancing strategies to mitigate human impacts on marine ecosystems.
Data availability
Acoustic data is available on request to the corresponding author.
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Download referencesAcknowledgementsThis research would not have been possible without the work of many colleagues at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn. In particular, the authors would like to thank Robin Caron, Florence Rappin and Gerardo Sorrentino. During the writing of this manuscript, S.F. was supported by the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn and the University of Turin through a SUSTNET PhD scholarship (n°39-033-31-DOT21BX3F7-8932). The PhD funder had no role in study design, data collection, or data analysis. Part of the work conducted for this study by F.C., S. F. and A. E. was carried out within the framework of the projects PRIN DIVES (CUP: C53D23003430006, Grant Assignment Decree n°1015-07/07/2023) and PRIN PNRR KNOWhale (CUP: C53D23007160001, Grant Assignment Decree n°1370-01/09/2023), funded by the European Union – Next GenerationEU – under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.1, Calls for tender No. 104 and 1409 published on 2022 by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR). This work was also supported by NRRP, Mission 4, Component 2, Investment 1.4, Call for tender N. 3138 of 16/12/2021, rectified by Decree n.3175 of18/12/2021 of MUR, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (Project code: CN_00000033, Concession Decree No. 1034 of 17/06/2022adopted by the MUR, CUP: C63C22000520001, project National Biodiversity Future Center – NBFC).Author informationAuthor notesSara Ferri and Anaëlle Evrard contributed equally to this work.Authors and AffiliationsDepartment of Marine Animal Conservation and Public Engagement, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121, Naples, ItalySara Ferri, Anaëlle Evrard, Livio Favaro & Francesco CarusoDepartment of Life Sciences and System Biology, University of Torino, Via Accademia Albertina, 13, 10123, Torino, ItalySara Ferri & Livio FavaroDepartment of Research Infrastructures for Marine Biological Resources, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Via Po’ 25c, 00189, Rome, ItalySimonepietro Canese & Augusto PassarelliDepartment of Biology and Evolution of Marine Organisms, Sicily Marine Centre, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Pace – Contrada Porticatello 29, 98167, Messina, ItalyTeresa RomeoNational Biodiversity Future Center, Piazza Marina 61, 90133, Palermo, ItalySimonepietro Canese, Teresa Romeo & Francesco CarusoNational Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Via dei Mille 46, 98057, Milazzo, ItalyTeresa RomeoUniversity of Gastronomic Sciences, Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 9, 12060, Pollenzo, ItalySilvestro GrecoAuthorsSara FerriView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAnaëlle EvrardView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSimonepietro CaneseView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarTeresa RomeoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarSilvestro GrecoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarAugusto PassarelliView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarLivio FavaroView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarFrancesco CarusoView author publicationsSearch author on:PubMed Google ScholarContributionsConceptualization, F.C, S.F. A.E.; methodology, F.C, S.C., A.P, S.F., A.E.; data analysis, F.C., S.F., A.E.; writing—original draft preparation, S.F., A.E.; writing—review and editing, F.C., L.F; supervision, F.C.; project administration, S.C., A.P., T.R; funding acquisition, T.R, S.G. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.Corresponding authorCorrespondence to
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Reprints and permissionsAbout this articleCite this articleFerri, S., Evrard, A., Canese, S. et al. A wave glider for passive acoustic monitoring of cetaceans and anthropogenic sources in the central Mediterranean Sea.
Sci Rep (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32142-3Download citationReceived: 13 March 2025Accepted: 08 December 2025Published: 21 December 2025DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-32142-3Share this articleAnyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:Get shareable linkSorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.Copy shareable link to clipboard
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KeywordsAutonomous vehiclesMediterranean basinUnderwater acousticsMarine mammalsCetaceans’ distributionMarine conservation More
