Unraveling the Mysteries of the Sea
SPI to Record Oceanographer Alessandro Bocconcelli
This June, SPI will travel to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute to spotlight the extraordinary life and work of Oceanographer and Emeritus Research Scholar Alessandro Bocconcelli. Alessandro, or Alex as he is otherwise known, is a leading figure in underwater acoustics, a field of study crucial to our understanding of the world beneath the sea.
Photo Credit: Daniel Casado
One key area of Alex’s work is monitoring marine mammals using digital acoustic recording tags (Dtags). These noninvasive devices attach via suction cups to free-ranging cetaceans. Dtags allow researchers to listen, record, and study cetacean behavior and responses to sound. Other listening devices include passive acoustic monitors, acoustic moorings, and towed arrays.
Many species, including whales, dolphins, and fish, rely on sound for navigation, foraging, and social interactions. Alex’s research has and continues to provide significant insights into how these animals produce and interpret sound and how they adapt to changing acoustic conditions in their habitats.
Alex also analyzes the impact of human activities on underwater soundscapes. Increased shipping traffic, industrial activities, sea water temperature rise, unrestricted fishing and fish farming, and pollution have altered the oceans. His research assesses the extent of these impacts and explores mitigation strategies to reduce noise pollution and protect marine life and aquatic ecosystems.
To learn more about acoustic monitoring, click here.
Alex is a committed and enthusiastic advocate for teaching young people about the ocean - its beauty and fragility - and the critical role it plays as the Earth’s largest ecosystem.
Alessandro remembers being interested in all things related to the sea as early as age three, and his interest never waned. Perhaps as a result, he actively engages in school and public outreach programs worldwide, aiming to inspire the next generation of marine scientists, wherever they may be and whatever age, and to foster in them a deep and lasting love of the ocean.
This is one of several new recordings that we’ll be working on this summer. (Did someone say ‘Boatbuilding’?) Stay tuned, they’ll be ready in time for the 2024/25 academic year.
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