8 Jun 2025
Citizen science with Kaia Initiative: our youth team participated in an international bioacoustics study by The Cornell Lab. WOPAM, also known as World Oceans Passive Acoustic Monitoring, involves 400+ sites around the world, recording underwater soundscapes on June 8, and we were honoured to be a part of it!
On 8 June, Kaia Initiative partnered with the World Oceans Passive Acoustic Monitoring (WOPAM) project to participate in a worldwide bioacoustics study at One°15 Marina! 🌎🌊🔊
WOPAM aims to foster and support a global interdisciplinary community engaged in recording, analysing and utilising underwater sounds. After months (since 2024!) of hard work, preparation, and Zoom sessions, we are not only proud to lead the very ‼️FIRST all-youth action team‼️ for WOPAM, but we're also beyond honoured to be the only group from Singapore 🇸🇬 participating in this meaningful event. We'd like to extend our sincerest gratitude to Dr Isla Davidson, The Cornell Lab & the entire WOPAM team for giving us the incredible opportunity to contribute to their research. 🔬🧑🔬📚
Here's how WOPAM went! Our day started off at One°15 Marina where our divers, Valerie, 16 (who led WOPAM) and Kat, 17, suited up for their dive. 🤿🫧 Equipped with GoPros, they not only managed to capture marine life, but also monitored bioacoustics to document the underwater soundscape of Singapore's marine ecosystems — providing valuable data for greater insights on ocean health and marine animals' communication. 🐟 Our land team, (Xavier, Davina, and Zoethout) recorded essential data, took photos, and filmed videos of the dive team! 🎥 🌊
Our youth diver, Kat mentioned that "diving for WOPAM and setting up the cameras was such a awesome experience. I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of this meaningful cause! One thing for sure is that I'd love to do more of these :)" 🐠🌅
This could not have been possible without the assistance of our amazing, capable and helpful dive guides from White Manta, Uncle Vincent and his daughter, Vivienne! 😁🙏
This World Oceans Day was truly something to remember for Kaia! We're always open to more collaborations so drop an email at info@kaia-initiative.com if you/your organisation are interested in working with us! 💪🤩
Happy World Oceans Week from Kaia Initiative! 💙