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Charting the Future of Ocean Passive Acoustics:
From observations to science and management
22-24 September 2026
InnovOcean Campus of the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
Oostende, Belgium
In Person and Online
Workshop Website
The International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE: www.iqoe.org), an international decadal project from 2015 to 2025, was designed to stimulate efforts to document the distribution of sound in the global ocean, how human and natural sources of sound generate these soundscapes, and to estimate current and future effects of sound on marine organisms. IQOE became an international multi-disciplinary forum for ocean acousticians and bioacousticians to develop and explore exciting new research questions and to integrate ocean sound into ocean observation systems.
A committee set up by IQOE is planning a workshop to provide an opportunity for participants to help design the next phase of international activities related to passive acoustic observations of the ocean and their use in scientific research, education, management, and the arts. The workshop will:
(1) Bring together the ocean acoustics and bioacoustics communities to continue scientific activities that resulted from the 10-year International Quiet Ocean Experiment (see Box 1) and to explore new research directions
(2) Define the next steps to implement Ocean Sound as an Essential Ocean Variable at a global scale (see Box 2)
This hybrid meeting aims to attract global participants at all career stages with backgrounds spanning the science and engineering of marine passive acoustic observations and research, inclusive of policy and industry applications. Voices from early-career to established scientists will be critical to guiding the next phase of this work.
Please complete the expression of interest form to stay informed about the workshop details and help shape the meeting breakout discussions.
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Box 1. Activities developed under IQOE
- engaging the global community that records sound in the ocean to develop a catalog of deployments (https://iqoe.org/systems),
- developing low-cost recording systems,
- developing a global library of sounds produced by marine organisms (https://www.glubs.org),
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stimulating standardized approaches to process ocean acoustic data (e.g. https://bitbucket.org/CLO-BRP/manta-wiki/wiki/Home), and
- supporting analyses of multi-decadal trends in low frequency sound in the global ocean and estimating the natural and human sources of these sounds
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Box 2. Implementing the Ocean Sound as an Essential Ocean Variable for the Global Ocean Observing System
- An IQOE working group (WG) explored ways to increase acoustic sensing in ocean observing systems and identified that the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS, www.goosocean.org) did not include ocean sound as an essential ocean variable (EOV).
- Observations of ocean sound provide important information about sound-producing marine organisms, help document physical processes in the ocean (e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, ice cracking, waves, wind, and rain), and assist in monitoring and managing human activities in the marine realm.
- The IQOE WG developed specifications for the Ocean Sound EOV, which was approved by GOOS. A new IQOE WG then led the development of an implementation plan (https://zenodo.org/records/10067187) and was assigned responsibility for implementing the Ocean Sound EOV.
- An important goal of this workshop is to form a group that can take over this implementation role.
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