Passive acoustic monitoring of cetaceans with KM3NeT acoustic receivers

KM3NeT (Cubic Kilometer Neutrino Telescope) is a research infrastructure that comprises two underwater neutrino detectors located at different sites in the Mediterranean Sea: KM3NeT-Fr (ORCA) (offshore the coast of Toulon, France, at a depth of around 2500 m) and KM3NeT-It (ARCA) (off Capo Passero, Sicily, Italy, at a depth of around 3500 m). The experiment consists of vertical structures, called strings, along which the optical modules are positioned. A hydrophone, located on the base of each string, is used for the reconstruction of the position of the KM3NeT elements with an accuracy of 10 cm. The presence of acoustic sensors in an underwater environment gives the opportunity to detect and study the sound emissions of marine mammals present in the area. The presented work describes the identification programs of the signals emitted by dolphins (clicks and whistles) and sperm whales (clicks) and the results of the analysis of real data collected between spring 2020 and spring 2021.