Description
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Eastern Region Acquisitions Division-Kansas City office intends to award, on a sole source basis, under the authority of FAR 13.106-1(b)(1), with Vanishing Point Marine, LTD for the construction and delivery of a four element hydrophone array for use during marine mammal assessment surveys for the National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC). The unit must work effectively with the existing sound equipment and follow a similar design to the current oil-filled two-element array to facilitate deployment, towing, and recovery with existing equipment. The array requires acoustic elements appropriate for the detection of marine mammal sounds at frequencies of less than 40 kHz to target the sounds produced by sperm whales and dolphins. The array must be delivered to Pascagoula, MS no later than May 15, 2012. This array is for a project studying sperm whale habitat use in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico and will be used during a research cruise departing on June 5, 2012. The May 15, 2012 delivery is required to allow adequate time for equipment set-up and testing prior to the cruise's departure. The array is a critical element of the cruise because it will provide an improved ability to detect and track sperm whales in the survey area. A sources sought notice was posted to FedBizOpps on March 20, 2012 and closed on March 30, 2012. No responses were received. Background The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) requires routine surveys to assess the abundance of marine mammals in waters of the U.S. EEZ. Surveys are conducted using large vessels in oceanic waters to document the presence of marine mammals and collect data to develop abundance estimates. Typically, visual line transect surveys have been conducted to support these assessments. However, visual surveys have recognized limitations namely that they cannot detect animals below the water's surface, they cannot be conducted at night, and they are often limited by poor weather conditions. As a result, the SEFSC has been working along with other partners to develop the capability to use passive acoustic tools to detect marine mammal vocalizations and use these data to augment visual surveys. The primary tool for this approach is towed hydrophone arrays. A hydrophone array consists of a cable with (typically) two or more hydrophones that are configured to be towed behind an oceanographic research vessel. The selected hydrophones in the array are chosen to target specific frequency ranges for the sounds made by target species of marine mammals. The SEFSC has employed several hydrophone arrays for use in surveying marine mammals. The most commonly used unit is an oil-filled two-element array that employs Benthos AQ4 hydrophones. Data from this hydrophone array are processed and collected through a number of pre-amps and customized boards. The array and the associated sound processing equipment have been very successful for detecting the sounds made by sperm whales along with dolphins at frequencies up to 40 kHz. Requirements and Specifications The required hydrophone array must be appropriate for the collection of marine mammal vocalizations during large vessel surveys. It will consist of four hydrophone elements housed in oil-filled tubing and the associated cables needed to tow the unit at a distance of approximately 400m behind the vessel. In addition, the array will incorporate depth sensors to allow the operator to measure the water depth at which the array is operating. Finally, the array must be robust enough for deployment from a oceanographic research vessel (~200 feet length) and towing at speeds up to 10 knots. Specifications include: Cable required for a 400 meter towed array 4x Benthos AQ4 Hydrophone Elements 1x Depth sensor integrated into array 1x 40m Deck lead with break out box to 2x stereo channels 1x 5m Deck lead with a break out box to 2x stereo channels 1x Stereo amplifier appropriate for integrating with the AQ4 hydrophones 1x4mA depth reader unit to integrate into data collection software via USB cable The four AQ4 mid-frequency hydrophone elements are integrated with matching HP02 29 dB preamplifiers incorporating a high pass filter set at 100Hz. The elements (AQ4s) have a flat frequency response to 15kHz and have a near flat working range to 30kHz. The stereo amplifier (HP27ST Balanced Amplifier) and conditioner unit provide an additional gain of 10-50 dB and high pass filtering between 0 and 3 kHz. The depth sensor is based on Keller PA-9SE-50 20bar 4-20mA pressure sensor. The depth sensor is a 4-20mA device controlling the current between 4mA at 0 bar to 20mA at 20bar (200m approx). A 47 Ohm resistor provides a voltage differential in the line which is sensed by a Measurement Computing USB 1208LS DAQ which can be read using a depth sensor module in passive acoustic monitoring software (e.g., PAMGUARD). The sensors are housed within a 5m long, 30mm OD polyurethane tube filled with inert oil. Components are mounted on 2mm strain bearing chords within a netting sheath. The tail end cap incorporates a bleed-screw which can be used for filling and topping up the oil if required. The unit is terminated with a rope tail to maintain towing stability. The tow cable is a 400m length, 14mm diameter with a Kevlar braid giving a 500 Kg breaking strain. Kellem's Grips are used to provide towing points. The inboard end of the tow cable terminates in a 19 pin gold plated CEEP connector. Sole Source Vanishing Point Acoustic LTD is the only commercial source with demonstrated experience constructing the small scientific hydrophone arrays used in marine mammal surveys by SEFSC. SEFSC previously purchased a small two-element array from this company over a decade ago and has had good success with that unit. Amplifiers, sound cards, and other deck-side processing equipment currently in use by SEFSC were designed to be used with this type of array. Another vendor could not develop the capability to produce an array of this type without additional costs for research and development and additional risk to the government that the unit would not perform as required. In this case, taking untested equipment into the field poses two significant risks. First, if the unit is not designed correctly, then it will not be able to withstand the hydrodynamic drag while towed and survey speed and may therefore be destroyed or lost. Second, if the unit does not perform as required and is unable to collect the required high-quality acoustic data, then the survey will not be successful resulting in considerable opportunity loss. Vanishing Point, LTD has demonstrated past performance producing oil-filled arrays that have been used effectively by SEFSC towed behind both large and small research vessels for over a decade. The developed system has performed exceptionally well and is integrated with existing sound processing equipment to provide high quality acoustic data.