The East Coast Marine Mammal Acoustic Study (ECOMMAS) ran from 2013 until 2023. The project’s main aim was to better understand the effects of offshore wind farm construction on marine mammal species off the east coast of Scotland.
Cetacean click detectors (C-PODs and F-PODs; Chelonia Ltd.) were deployed at ~5, ~10 and ~15km from the coast, at 10 locations along the east coast of Scotland between Helmsdale and St.Abbs, at a total of 30 mooring locations. From 2013 to 2015 only one deployment was undertaken each year, covering the summer months. From 2015-2023, two deployments were undertaken per year, covering April to November. Additionally, from 2016-2023, two sites had a third deployment implemented to cover the winter season (Arbroath and Helmsdale). Cetacean click detectors were set up to record continuously and data were processed through the Kerno F classifier v1.0 available at www.chelonia.co.uk.

Detections for both narrow band frequency clicks associated with harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena), and broadband clicks, associated with delphinid species (Delphinid spp.), were extracted as detection-positive days (DPD) and detection-positive hours (DPH), to quantify dolphin and porpoise presence/absence at each location.