 Prof. Shashidhar Siddagangaiah, National Taiwan Ocean University
Personal profile: Assistant Professor, Systems Engineering and Naval Architecture National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, Taiwan.
Shashidhar Siddagangaiah has received the “Outstanding Researcher” Award from the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) of Taiwan (2023), the Researcher Award from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) of Taiwan (2018 to 2023), and the National Scholarship Council (CSC). ) as a full scholarship for doctoral students (2012-2017).
Shashidhar Siddagangaiah published 9 expired articles. Shashidhar Siddagangaiah has served as a reviewer for the journals Ecological Indicators (IF:6.9), Measurement (IF:5.1), Marine Pollution Bulletin (IF:5.8), Ocean and Coastal Management (IF:4.6), Biodiversity and Conservation (IF:3.4), and Acoustics Australia (IF:1.8).
Presentation title: Overview of the marine soundscape monitoring research in Taiwan offshore windfarm areas
Abstract: Taiwan's government intends to go greener by reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 and has set a target of producing 40-55 GW through wind power. These ambitious projects involve the development of offshore wind farms along the Eastern Taiwan Strait (ETS). These huge offshore wind farm developmental projects involve several phases, such as high-intensity noise from pile driving, increased vessel traffic during the survey and construction phase, and sustained operational noise for 20-30 years. All these factors immensely augment the underwater noise levels at the ETS, thus exerting a huge pressure on the marine soundscape and its ecology. In an effort to understand the changing soundscape and its influence on marine organisms, my research has focused on understanding the long-term sound levels and the acoustic phenology of the fishes and the critically endangered Taiwanese humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis taiwanensis). The collection and understanding of the long-term term acoustical data at the wind farm sites have facilitated to understand the trend of rising sound levels and its influences on the acoustic behavior of the fish and dolphins. Specifically, for the first time, we have shown the influence of pile driving and the operational noise on the fish vocalizations and the impact of vessel transits on the white dolphins and their changing acoustic behavior at the wind farm area. Further, I have also developed automation algorithms for the detection of the vocalizations of fish and dolphins from the long-term acoustical datasets. Overall, the offshore wind farm is expected to expand rapidly, and the long-term results before and during the wind farm development obtained in my research will serve as a baseline for understanding the evolving marine soundscapes and the acoustic behavior of the marine organisms in the coming 20-30 years of the offshore wind farm lifecycle. |