Innovative Collection and Reporting for Marine Mammal Monitoring, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Dry Dock 1

Marine projects with potential to harass, or injure, marine mammals typically seek authorization from regulatory agencies to allow for incidental take. Monitoring by trained scientists is usually a requirement of these authorizations. For larger projects, this monitoring can generate significant volumes of data to meet regulatory requirements. If these data are not collected or organized well, a project may experience unnecessary delays, shutdowns, or further consultation with the agencies. The expansion of Dry Dock 1 at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, is a multi-year marine construction project requiring compliance monitoring for potential impacts to marine mammals under several authorizations from NOAA Fisheries. Due to the expectation of large volume of compliance data and scrutiny by the agencies, we developed a secure digital interface for standardized data collection and management to maintain permit compliance. Use of our system improved the time required to enter and review data, run queries for status updates, and prepare summary reports to remain in compliance with project permits and authorizations.