NT-24-X11: Modeling Real-Time Population Density of North Atlantic Right Whales and Database Support for Cetacean, Sea Turtle, and Other Wildlife Observations in the United States North Atlantic Exclusive Economic Zone | M24AS00359

Opportunity Information: Apply for M24AS00359

NT-24-X11 (Funding Opportunity No. M24AS00359) is a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) program announcement for a cooperative agreement focused on improving how the United States tracks and predicts the movements and density of the endangered North Atlantic right whale along the eastern seaboard. The core idea is to move from slower, retrospective analyses to a near real-time (NRT) modeling system that can take in newly collected whale observations and rapidly translate them into updated, map-based estimates of where whales are likely to be and in what numbers across the U.S. North Atlantic Exclusive Economic Zone. BOEM and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) are jointly funding the work, reflecting both offshore energy planning needs and protected species management responsibilities.

The project has two tightly linked deliverables. First, it will create or enhance a survey segment database that standardizes and organizes cetacean, sea turtle, and other marine wildlife observations collected from multiple survey platforms. This includes integrating aerial and shipboard survey datasets into consistent “segments” (the basic units of survey effort) so that observations can be paired with effort information and made analytically comparable across programs and time periods. Second, it will develop near real-time right whale density models that ingest real-time or rapidly available visual and acoustic detections and combine them with environmental covariates to produce updated density estimates. Environmental covariates typically refer to oceanographic and habitat-related variables that can help explain whale distribution patterns, such as temperature, productivity proxies, currents, or other remotely sensed or modeled conditions, allowing the system to adjust predictions as the environment changes.

A key motivation for this effort is that right whale distribution, timing, and habitat use can shift from year to year, and sometimes within a season, due to changing ocean conditions and prey availability. The NRT approach is meant to respond more quickly and flexibly to those shifts in “space use and phenology,” meaning where whales concentrate and when they arrive, depart, or change their patterns. By building a workflow that can be updated frequently, the modeling system is intended to better reflect current conditions rather than relying solely on historical averages.

The announcement describes an initial phase where the system functions as a research-and-development testbed. In that stage, a collaborative development team will focus on the statistical and computational challenges involved in turning mixed-source observation streams into reliable density surfaces, while also refining the software pipeline needed to automate data ingestion, quality control, modeling, and product generation. Once the density models have been demonstrated to perform effectively, the plan is to make daily predictions operational and to disseminate those outputs to the public. Over time, the system could also be expanded to provide short-term forecasts (not just same-day or near real-time estimates) and to cover additional species beyond right whales, depending on whether sufficient data exist and whether suitable modeling methods can be developed for those taxa.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement instrument under CFDA 15.423 (Environment). The expected award ceiling is $628,779. The opportunity is not an open solicitation; instead, it is a targeted announcement of intent describing specific project(s) that may be awarded to the universities or eligible groups identified. Eligibility is tied to the Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (PSAC-CESU), meaning proposals are intended to come through that CESU network rather than from the general public. The original closing date listed is 2024-08-01, and the posting date is 2024-06-18.

• The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the environment sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NT-24-X11: Modeling Real-Time Population Density of North Atlantic Right Whales and Database Support for Cetacean, Sea Turtle, and Other Wildlife Observations in the United States North Atlantic Exclusive Economic Zone" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.423.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-06-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-08-01. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $628,779.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Others.

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