6th International Meeting on

the Effects of Sound in the Ocean on Marine Mammals
(ESOMM)

and the 3rd Programme Review Meeting of

the IOGP E&P Sound & Marine Life Joint Industry Programme
(JIP)

The Hague, The Netherlands, 9-14 September 2018

About the meeting

The 6th International Meeting on the Effects of Sound in the Ocean on Marine Mammals (ESOMM) will be held in combination with the 3rd Programme Review Meeting of the E&P Sound & Marine Life Joint Industry Programme (JIP) in The Netherlands, The Hague (Scheveningen), overlooking the sea at the Carlton Beach Hotel. ESOMM is organized by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). The 6th ESOMM meeting follows the tradition of earlier ESOMM events in Amsterdam (2011, 2014) and Lerici, Italy (as organized by the NATO Undersea research centre NURC in 2005, 2007, 2009. Attendance of the meeting is by invitation only.

The focus of ESOMM-2018, similar to previous ESOMM meetings, is to link science to policy and regulation by inviting combined representation of the research, policy and regulation communities. By doing so, we hope to facilitate and reinforce this multi stakeholder interaction. Originating as a NATO meeting, the main focus for ESOMM will be the environmental effects of sonar sound; but over the years other sound sources have increasingly been considered as well. We would like to encourage exchange of knowledge between different communities and industries on other sound sources, such as the oil & gas industry. The 3rd IOGP JIP programme review meeting follows earlier meetings in 2008 and 2014, held in Houston and Washington DC, respectively. In this meeting the contribution of the E&P industry to research effort review of projects supported through the JIP, during which the latest scientific findings will be presented and discussed.

The ESOMM/JIP meeting provides a platform to communicate recent scientific results and challenges in combination with addressing the needs from policy and regulator perspectives.

Information

This website will serve as the primary resource for all information related to the meeting, including important dates, registration, abstract submission, travel and accommodation. Additional information will be advertised when available. JIP presenters will be informed separately.

Registration Registration is now closed

Formal registration is now open for ESOMM/JIP-2018 from 9-14 September 2018 in The Hague. Participation is based on invitation only. A contribution for catering-and venue costs will be requested.

Scientific programme

As described in the introduction, the focus of ESOMM/JIP-2018, similar to previous ESOMM meetings and JIP reviews, is to link science to policy and regulation. By inviting the most relevant stakeholders (regulators, scientists, industry, governments, etc.) we hope to facilitate and reinforce this interaction.

Final programmeLast update: 07 September

The final programme of ESOMM/JIP-2018 is now available for download. A printed copy is included in the conference package.

Please be notified that this is still a draft programme. Order of presentations (and even days) can still be modified after this version.

Printed booklets will be distributed as part of the conference package upon arrival.

Draft schedule of ESOMM/JIP-2018

We will facilitate the start of registration Sunday 9 September during the informal “get together” that evening. After the official opening on Monday 10 September, we'll continue for the rest of this first day with focus on linking all involved stakeholders. For the remaining four days there will be series of thematic plenary sessions. JIP-session will be clearly marked in the programme. A full list of possible session topics can be found on the website (see below). The plenary sessions will be concluded on Friday afternoon.

Topics

The following (non-exclusive, preliminary) topics have been anticipated to be addressed:

  • Policy developments and stakeholders perspectives
    • US, EU, other developments in policy, regulation and management.
  • Effects of sound on marine life
    • Hearing sensitivity, TTS-effects and physiology
    • Studies on captive animals
    • Controlled exposure experiments (CEE) or Behaviour response studies (BRS) in the field
    • Stress response of animals exposed to sound
    • Population-level and ecosystem level effects (PCOD and other)
  • Technical/tool developments
    • Tag development
    • Assessment and mitigation software
    • Sources and sound propagation
  • Monitoring and mitigation
    • Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) / Detection, classification and localization (DCL) and tracking
    • Population estimation
  • Dissemination of knowledge

Abstract submission Abstract submission is now closed

Abstracts for papers can be submitted until 08 April, by using the template that can be downloaded here. Abstracts have to be sent to esomm-2018@tno.nl. JIP presenters will be informed separately, but are also requested to provide their abstract using this template.

Note that edits or updates of your abstract are allowed until 1 June.

Conference proceedings

An abstract book will be made available for participants to ESOMM/JIP-2018, which will be posted on the website one week before the meeting. After the meeting all presentations will be made available to participants. Similar to the 2014 ESOMM meeting in Amsterdam, a peer-reviewed special issue for ESOMM/JIP-2018 may be published in Aquatic Mammals. We aim to have this issued by end of 2019, with a deadline for submission of manuscripts by the end of 2018. See the fact sheet for this AMJ special ESOMM issue in your conference package.

Social programme

  • An informal "get-together" at the Carlton Beach hotel on Sunday evening with the possibility for early registration from 17:00 to 19:00.
    • There will be a (Dutch) cheese tasting with matching wines!
  • On Monday afternoon all participants are invited to join us at a reception in the hotel, and when weather allows in the Carlton Beach club on the beach.
    • At the Monday reception different drinks and snacks will be served, including Dutch Herring and Craft beers from the Kompaan brewery in The Hague.
  • On Wednesday morning we have organized three different outdoor activities:
    • Guided dune walk of about 1.5 hour
    • Beach yoga (inside in case of rain or cold)
    • Bootcamp / fitness
    • More information will be provided at the registration desk.
  • On Thursday evening a dinner is scheduled for all participants that signed in to join. The dinner will take place at the wonderful Spanish Court in the city. For dinner small dishes will be served with specially selected matching wines. Two busses will be ready at the Carlton Beach hotel from 17:45 and will depart at 18:00 for the Spanish Court. There is one bus returning to the hotel at 22:30. Other people are expected to stay in the city (at the nearby square Grote Markt), or take a taxi at a later moment.

Important dates

  • 08 February: participants invited, registration open
  • 08 April: abstract deadline (edits/updates still possible)
  • 01 June: closure of abstract updates
  • 10 June: closing early registration
  • 01 Aug: closing registration
  • July: draft of scientific programme available
  • August: final programme available

09-14 Sep: ESOMM/JIP-2018 (preliminary schedule)

  • Sun 9 Sep: get together at Carlton Beach hotel and pre-registration (1700-1900)
  • Mon 10 Sep: Start of plenary programme; connecting stakeholders
  • Tue 11- Fri 14 Sep: Plenary sessions continued

Accommodation

Venue

The ESOMM/JIP-2018 joint meeting will be held at the Carlton Beach hotel in The Hague, The Netherlands. The historical Amsterdam Naval Barracks that were available in 2011 and 2014 are no longer available. The Carlton Beach hotel is located in the traditional fishing community Scheveningen, which is by now part of The Hague. At this location, overlooking the North Sea, meeting facilities are available this week.

The address of the venue is Carlton Beach hotel, Gevers Deynootweg 201, The Hague.

Staying in The Hague

The Hague is the political capital (“residence”) of The Netherlands. All ministries and most embassies are located in this city. It has many well-known attractions, like e.g. the Mauritshuis next to the Parliament building. At a later stage we will post more detailed information about The Hague and Scheveningen.

See also the tourist centre's website: This is the Hague

Getting there

We encourage all participants from abroad to make use of public transport. The train station at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is located below the arrival halls. A direct train connection to The Hague Central Station leaves about every 15 minutes, and this takes about 30 minutes. See www.ns.nl/en for train schedules. From there you can take a tram or taxi to your accommodation. The end stop of tram 9 stops opposite the Carlton Beach hotel. Note that tram 1 is blocked, due to construction works.

Details on local travel will follow soon.

If you plan to use a (rental) car, please be advised that parking in Scheveningen can be difficult and expensive. For this reason, renting of a car is not encouraged. Instead, consider renting a bike to explore Scheveningen and The Hague. Also be aware of the many bicycles around when walking around.

Hotel accommodation

Arrangements were made with following hotels (all block reservations have expired):