Dear Colleagues, We wish to draw your attention to our special session at the upcoming Ocean Sciences Meeting titled *ME07 - Exploring and Characterizing Deep and Coastal Ocean Soundscapes.* Our goal is to bring together a wide spectrum of researchers in passive acoustic monitoring to foster discussion on developing PAM applications and technological innovations. The Ocean Sciences meeting will be held in February 2026 in Glasgow, Scotland, with the deadline for abstract submission on 20 August 2025. It is our hope to receive several abstracts from the bio-acoustics/marine mammal communities. We look forward to your contributions! Best regards, Ocean Sciences ME07 Session Chairs ------------------------------------------ ME007 - Exploring and Characterizing Deep and Coastal Ocean Soundscapes Passive acoustic methods (PAM) offer an effective, low-impact means for monitoring and characterizing ocean environments across spatial scales. Unlike many traditional methods, PAM operates regardless of weather or light conditions, making it ideal for tracking vulnerable marine species and habitats. These observations are increasingly vital as shifting ocean conditions affect foraging grounds, migratory patterns, and habitat health. In addition to ecological applications, PAM supports global economic sectors such as maritime commerce, fisheries, and offshore energy. Emerging technologies, including seafloor fiber-optic cables, distributed acoustic sensing, autonomous vehicles, and near-real-time surface buoys combined with advances in AI, are enabling continuous, high-resolution monitoring of underwater soundscapes. This session will highlight recent advances in PAM technologies and their applications to pressing oceanographic challenges. Topics include monitoring for offshore renewable energy development, soundscape changes related to habitat loss or restoration, tracking anthropogenic noise from shipping and industry, detecting shifts in species distributions, verifying ocean acidification, and assessing ice shelf instability. We invite contributions that explore innovations in signal detection and classification, new monitoring platforms, and integrative approaches that use underwater acoustics to address key issues in ocean science and management. Primary Chair DelWayne R. Bohnenstiehl North Carolina State University Co-Chairs Adrienne Copeland NOAA Ocean Exploration Robert Dziak NOAA – Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory