Soundings, BioSonics' Newsletter

Looking ahead, we have busy Summer and Autumn seasons ahead of us, with lots of travel, conferences, events, and client projects. We are especially excited about this year's OCEANS event in September, sponsored by the Marine Technology Society and the Oceanic Engineering Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, which is being held in our hometown of Seattle, Washington! We will be on hand to answer questions, and look forward to exploring your ideas for hydroacoustic applications. If your travel plans include the OCEANS conference, please let us know if you are interested in a tour of BioSonics or a demo cruise to see our DT-X Echosounder system in action!

Here's to another great year of echosounding around the world!

Tim Acker, President and CEO
BioSonics, Inc.

Later in the week, Eric joined BioSonics President, Tim Acker, and the two attended the Oceanology 2010 Exhibition held at the Excel Center near the London Docks. Oceanology is the largest gathering of its kind and attendance was at record levels. Hundreds of exhibitors set up impressive displays, some equipped with espresso stands, luxurious lounge areas, and immense LCD monitors flashing the latest product information. All were on hand to present products and services for the underwater monitoring and exploration market and BioSonics was represented at the conference by local UK agents, MK Services. Dockside, an impressive array of survey vessels busily shuttled curious clients out to the harbor each day for field demonstrations.

The Oceanology Conference draws attendees from around the world and Tim and Eric were fortunate to meet with clients and BioSonics representatives from all corners of the planet including Spain, Australia, China, Germany, and Italy, to name a few.

Links:
[RenewableUK / Wave and Tidal 2010 Conference]
[Oceanology International]
[BioSonics Global Agent Program]

The sale was generated by the team at Grafinta SA led by Sr. Francisco Mier. Grafinta SA offers a range of products for mapping, hydrographic and oceanographic research. Grafinta's staff of 21 includes engineers, technicians and laboratory specialists providing support for their customers.

In support of the system purchase, BioSonics' own Bob McClure travelled to Madrid for a field demonstration and training workshop with the client. This sale represents the first BioSonics DT-X Echosounder system sale in Europe generated entirely through the new and recently implemented BioSonics Sales Agent program. We welcome the team at Sayfor to the BioSonics family!

Links:
[Grafinta]
[BioSonics Global Agent Program]

As part of a comprehensive river monitoring program, Dr. Gayle Zydlewski (University of Maine, Orono) is heading a fish assessment and monitoring project. Working alongside Gayle is Patrick Erbland, a graduate student. Their goals include monitoring and assessment of adult fish migrating upstream to spawn, including Atlantic salmon, shad, and river herring, among others. Their task will be accomplished, in part, by two automated BioSonics DT-X fixed-location split beam monitoring systems that have been installed in downtown Bangor. BioSonics' Brian Moore spent a week working with Gayle and Patrick to set up and initiate operation of these advanced, automated echosounder systems. The installations have horizontally-aimed split beam transducers which will detect fish moving up or downstream in the river, and provide summary reports of upstream migrating fish (numbers, location in the river, and acoustic size - an indicator of actual fish size). The data collection began in early April, after ice disappeared from the river, and will continue for several months until the fish runs subside.

Dam removal is scheduled to begin in 2011. The information collected this year will provide both baseline data and an opportunity to fine tune the detection, tracking, and classification of fish targets in this exciting and important project. Funding for this project comes from the Penobscot River Restoration Trust and is made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act under an agreement with the NOAA Restoration Center.

Watch for more news of this project later in the year.

Links:
The University of Maine, Orono [School of Marine Sciences] / [Gayle Zydlewski, Ph.D.]
The Penobscot River Restoration Trust [Learn more]
PPL Corporation [Learn more]
NOAA Fisheries [Restoration Center] / [Recovery Act Atlas]

Links:
[Atlas Hydrographic]
[Jong Shyn Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.]

Our most recent Workshop was held on January 25-27, 2010. We would like to thank Jamie Carr (Atomic Energy Canada), Bree Witteveen (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Alan Pogmore (MK Services), and Jim Sholly (South Dakota State University) for joining us! A special thanks also goes to Ian Higginbottom (Myriax Pty Ltd) for stopping by and sharing in some of the sessions.

We believe in the power of creativity and interaction between our staff and our clients, and that's why we continue to host our biannual Hydroacoustic Assessment Workshop. We learn as much from our users as they learn from us during our workshops, so please join us!

Our next Workshop is scheduled:
October 25-27, 2010
BioSonics Headquarters, Seattle, Washington

Visit the link below, and contact us to learn more! Sign up early, because the limited space fills up quickly.

Link:
[BioSonics Hydroacoustic Assessment Workshop]

BioSonics data acquisition and processing software produces vivid color displays and the acoustic backscatter sometimes generates quite interesting, even beautiful imagery. Have a look at some of these and see if you agree.



Do you have an interesting echogram image? Send it to us as a .jpeg and let us be the judge. Maybe your entry will be the next "Echogram of the Month" on our website!

BioSonics History Lesson

BioSonics, Inc. was founded in Seattle, Washington in 1978 by Bill Acker, a former Professor of Engineering and Senior Scientist at the University of Washington's Applied Physics Laboratory. BioSonics was a pioneer in the application of hydroacoustic technology to monitor aquatic resources. Back then, the focus was on the monitoring and assessment of salmon in rivers, lakes, and reservoirs in the Pacific Northwest. Many of North America's leading experts in fisheries acoustics have either worked with or received training from BioSonics. We are proud our history and the impact that BioSonics has had on hydroacoustics. We value our relationships with the many BioSonics "family" members throughout the world and look forward to the future. If you are a BioSonics alumni, why not get in touch and let us know what you are doing now? Perhaps we'll do a future article about "where they are now."

Helpful Hint

Have you visited the Hydroacoustic Users Forum? The team at Echoview maintains a forum for the global hydroacoustics community, found at the link below. Here you will find an online community with networking opportunities and information on all things hydroacoustic including:

• Events, jobs and internships
  
• Platforms and instrumentation
  
• Software
  
• Techniques for processing
  
• Answers to research questions
  
• Latest publications

We encourage you to visit the forum to register and utilize this outstanding online resource.

• Pennwell's HydroVision International 2010 Event is fast-approaching, taking place July 27-30, 2010 in Charlotte, North Carolina. BioSonics will be among the 250+ exhibitors at the event, so please stop by booth #108 and say hello! In the meantime, we have a stack of free passes to the exhibition hall to distribute prior to the event, so if you are interested in attending, contact us TODAY!

• The 140th meeting of the American Fisheries Society is being held September 12-16, 2010, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We never miss this event - and this year is no exception. BioSonics personnel will be exhibiting, so when you see our sign (booth #14), stop by for a chat!

• The 2010 OCEANS Conference, sponsored by the Marine Technology Society (MTS) and the Oceanic Engineering Society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE/OES) is taking place September 20-23, 2010 in BioSonics' hometown of Seattle, Washington. Our own Bob McClure is on the Organizing Committee, and we hear from good authority that it's going to be a great event! Bob and other BioSonics personnel will be on hand (visit us at booth #507), so please don't be a stranger - we are looking forward to touching base with all of our current and future users!