Bottom-Deployed, Upward Looking Hydrophone Assembly

A hydrophone assembly for deployment on the bottom of a body of water is provided wherein a plurality of hydrophones are mounted in a spaced apart relationship about the circumference of a housing which is designed to hold signal processing electronics. Each hydrophone is constructed to detect a range of frequencies within a defined receive angle that extends outward from the circumference of the housing. A resonance absorbing material is interposed between the housing and the hydrophones to isolate each hydrophone from mechanical resonance. Tilt switches are connected to each hydrophone for automatically and independently selecting hydrophones to participate in the output of the hydrophone assembly based on the orientation of the hydrophones. Selected adjacent hydrophones define a continuous receive angle formed by combining the receive angle%associated with each adjacent hydrophone. The continuous receive angle faces upward from the bottom of the water to include an angular portion of the surface.