Abstract
This guidance document provides advice aimed at developers of marine renewable energy installations (MREIs) on the use of static passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) devices for monitoring vocalising cetaceans around MREIs. The document considers static passive acoustic monitoring (static PAM) for wind farms, tidal stream devices and wave energy converters. In UK waters, static PAM is most appropriate for monitoring small cetacean species such as harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and dolphin species (such as bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops truncatus; common dolphins, Delphinus delphis; and white-beaked dolphins, Lagenorhynchus albirostris). Static PAM methods allow for continuous autonomous monitoring of small cetacean occurrence at MREI sites, and are thus one of the few approaches available to describe seasonal trends in habitat use, as well as direct measures of impact resultant from MREI activities. This document provides guidance on static PAM survey design, deployment and retrieval, and data analysis.