SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT This email serves to announce the 3rd International Workshop on Detection and Classification of Marine Mammals using Passive Acoustics to be held at the Federal Reserve Building in Boston, Massachusetts July 24-26th, 2007. A website dedicated to the workshop is linked through the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium website at www.rightwhaleweb.org/workshop <http://www.rightwhaleweb.org/workshop/> /. A great deal of information has been and will continue to be added to this weblink, so please check back often for updated workshop details. Objectives The purpose of the workshop is to present current research on the detection and classification of marine mammals using passive acoustics. Researchers are invited to present their scientific work, to detail the advantages and drawbacks of the methods they use and to show their recent results. Topics will be extended beyond passive acoustics to other relevant areas of research that directly affect the study of marine mammals and the effect of anthropogenic sound on their behavior. Participants The workshop encourages presentations from different fields. Scientific researchers could include specialists in biology, acoustics, signal processing, mathematics, electronics, computer science. Participation may be limited to ensure a dynamic and interactive exchange. Attendance at the workshop is encouraged and there is not a requirement to present to attend. The workshop will be open to Masters and PhD Students. Workshop Schedule Time will be allotted for oral presentation of current relevant research. A half-day will be reserved for the comparison of all scientific methods presented using a common data set of recorded odontocete clicks provided by the workshop. This data set can be accessed through the workshop link above and contains sounds from the following: 1. Mesoplodon densirostris (Blainville's beaked whale) 2. Grampus griseus (Risso's dolphin) 3. Globicephala macrorhynchus (Short finned pilot whale) The participants who do not work on this specific dataset are also welcome to join the workshop, and present their own work on detection and classification techniques based on passive acoustics or other relevant research as outlined in the topics list. A poster session is also scheduled. Authors will be accepted for presentation or poster session by the scientific committee. A maximum of 20 papers will be accepted for publication in a special edition of the Canadian Journal of Acoustics. Important Dates April 1, 2007: Deadline for abstract submission (300 words max) April 15, 2007: Notification of Acceptance July 24, 2007 : Workshop starts July 26, 2007 : Workshop ends Call for Papers Oral Presentations/Papers/Poster Sessions Abstracts for oral presentations (300 words max) and poster presentations: deadline April 1, 2007 Acceptance information: April 15, 2007 Communications in English are invited . Oral presentations will be 15 min followed by 5 min for questions and discussion . Submission The Scientific Committee is accepting abstracts (300 words max) based on the analysis of the workshop data set (on-line through above link), as well as related research on detection and classification techniques based on passive acoustics and additional listed topics. Indicate in the submission the preferred session (Presentation of analysis of workshop data set with potential for publication, Oral presentation with potential for publication on selected topics, Oral presentation only, Poster session). Details for abstract submission are posted on the website. The abstract will be assigned to an oral presentation or poster session by the scientific committee. Scientific Topics The objective of the workshop it to exchange information that advances general understanding of methods to detect, classify, and monitor marine mammals. Topics for consideration are provided below. Additional topics will be considered. 1. Underwater acoustics 1.1 Acoustics materials 1.2 Theory, model development, and applications of underwater acoustic propagation 1.3 Multi-channel arrays 1.4 High Frequency Sensors (>20 kHz) 2. Detection and Classification 2.1 Passive acoustic methods 2.2. Active acoustic methods 2.3 Alternate methods (IR, laser, hyperspectral, radar) 3. Localization 3.1 Localization 2D - 3D 3.2 Tracking Algorithms 3.3 Bearing Localization 4. Biology of Marine Mammals 4.1 Behavioral studies 4.2 In-situ studies 4.3 Animal dive and vocalization behavior 4.4 Captive studies 5. Density Estimation 5.1 Visual 5.2 Passive/active acoustic 6. Applications 6.1 Real Time Systems 6.2 Predictive Models 6.3 Mitigation Systems Questions regarding the workshop should be directed to David Moretti (d.j.moretti@ieee.org) or Heather Pettis (hpettis@neaq.org) Heather Pettis Secretary, North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium Right Whale Research New England Aquarium Central Wharf Boston, MA 02110