GAIA Marine delivered marine fauna monitoring and mitigation support for an offshore geotechnical survey in Victoria, providing dedicated Marine Mammal Observers, HD/IR surveillance, real-time operational advice, vessel-speed monitoring and regulatory-aligned reporting across a 30-day offshore campaign.
Following earlier marine fauna monitoring work in the region, GAIA Marine supported a separate offshore geotechnical survey campaign using a dedicated MMO team and 24-hour monitoring framework. Four qualified Marine Mammal Observers were assigned to the program, supported by visual observation methods, binoculars, night-vision equipment and high-definition/infrared camera systems. The monitoring approach was aligned with the project-specific procedure and relevant EPBC Act referral requirements, with GAIA personnel maintaining observation coverage during dynamic positioning, testing, transit and geotechnical operations.
The campaign recorded 103 marine fauna sightings, including killer whale, common dolphin, cape fur seals, smooth hammerhead shark and unidentified cetacean, dolphin and pinniped records. No shutdown actions were required, as the only potentially mitigated species were either outside the shutdown zone or observed when no active acoustic sources were operating. GAIA also monitored compliance with the 10-knot vessel-speed requirement to reduce vessel-strike risk, while maintaining zero MMO sighting-effort downtime, zero equipment downtime, zero personnel incidents and zero marine mammal incidents.
This project reinforces GAIA Marine’s ability to deliver marine fauna monitoring as an integrated operational service, not just a personnel placement. The team combined offshore observation experience, HD/IR technology, survey-team communication, structured event logging, QA/QC and spatial data presentation to support compliant geotechnical operations. Final deliverables included sighting records, operational summaries, mitigation assessment, weather and visibility context, dynamic-positioning activity logs and interactive mapping outputs that allowed the client to review fauna observations alongside vessel activity and survey status.