Collaborative Oceanography and Monitoring for Protected Areas and Species
The COMPASS project is a 5 year project, which will establish a network of oceanographic and acoustic moorings within and adjacent to cross-border marine protected areas (MPAs), which will produce new marine monitoring data for emerging areas of environmental concern including ocean acidification and the long-term impacts of anthropogenic noise on marine life. It will also help fulfill international, European and national biodiversity obligations.
COMPASS will deliver a clearer understanding of what changes in the oceanographic climate have on underwater habitats, fauna and flora across the region. The project will also develop an innovative acoustic tag programme to understand the migration patterns, the behaviour and mortality of salmon and sea trout in the North Western part of the Irish Sea.
The interregional perspective will allow data to be captured and shared across Northern Ireland, the Border Region of Ireland and Western Scotland and help in the development of effective future monitoring programmes for MPAs.
