PLOCAN’s 2023 autonomous surface vehicle program for the Ocean Decade: Biodiversity Conservation, One-Health, Blue Economy

PLOCAN applies new technologies to advance towards the integration of the One Health approach into ocean science and policy, the conservation of marine biodiversity and the development of a sustainable blue economy. A monitoring program was designed to survey the Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) of Macaronesia with an AutoNaut 5.0 vehicle for the observation of essential ocean variables (EOVs), monitoring ocean sound and biodiversity detection through passive and active acoustic sensors. A 19h-test run of AutoNaut was performed at PLOCAN’s test site between the 15th and 16th of March to assess the functioning of the different sensors installed. The mean sound pressure level (SPL) was approximately 114.67 ± 4.46 dB, with minimum and maximum levels of 95.77 dB and 130.32 dB, respectively. The mean water temperature was 20.16 ± 0.10 degrees Celsius. Salinity measurements were mainly in range but also presented inconsistencies, possibly related to sensor malfunctioning. These mismeasurements affected the results of sound speed values. Preliminary findings highlight the importance of carrying out a test run before executing long-term missions to detect technical failures and take corrective measures prior to long-term missions.