Matteo Bernasconi
Matteo started fishing around the Ticino River (IT) on small boats as a child with Grandpa and friends. The river stream brought him down to the University of Pavia where he studied Natural Resources Conservation and Management. Eventually, in those very formative years, he started the seaman career as cabin boy on a small Research Vessel in the Mediterranean Sea. Once he graduated in Italy with a thesis about the Mediterranean Fin whale's vocalizations, he worked from time to time as a Professional Diver, spent some time in Australia working on Cabbage Tree Island, and someday he made it to the wheelhouse of a Norwegian Ship as sonar operator with the Institute of Marine Research.
Constantly involved offshore, seamanship training was constant as well as the access to the most modern fishing/research vessels equipment. Always under the supervision of experienced captains and technicians, in those years, granted the opportunity of collecting data while on watch, he developed a method to measure whales body reflectivity and model active acoustic detections of cetaceans. The result was a PhD in Oceanography at the University of St Andrews (Scotland).
The work at sea continued with more responsibilities, ending up in charge of various operations in many offshore expeditions. Before funding Whales & Co. Matteo participated among others to the Pangaea initiative surveying the Chagos Archipelago in the BIOT, to the ACE (Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition) organized by the Swiss Polar Institute and again to Antarctica onboard the RV Polarstern, always representing the Pelagic Ecology Research Group of the University of St Andrews (Scotland). Arrived in the United States he worked as Senior Scientist at Biowaves Inc. investigating Sonar Beamforming.
After 30 years, he decided it was time to do things his way focusing on the two activities that has driven his life so far: Navigation and Science. For that reason, Matteo personally refits the RV Tortuga and accepted the new responsibilities as a Captain, with in mind the goal to promote eco-tourism while actively surveying the waters around the Channel Island National Marine Sanctuary in the hope to give a community service and help preserve our Oceans for the generations to come.
Curriculum vitae
Matteo Bernasconi, PhD
matteo@whalesandco.com
SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS
Methodology Design and Applied Technology in marine mammals and fisheries research
Passive and Active Sonar signal processing
Natural Resources and Conservation Managment
Mitigation of human activities impact over marine wildlife
Scuba Diving techniques - NITROX Dec for Science
RESEARCH TOPICS
Variation of Cetaceans sp. target strength (TS) in relation to their kinematics, physiology and behavior.
Ecology: Prey-predator interaction of marine mammals and fish in coastal and pelagic habitats.
Active acoustic techniques for the distribution assessment and management of commercially important fish species and krill.
Calibration of acoustics transducers and CTD cast data analysis for scientific purposes.
RELEVANT SKILLS
Installation, Troubleshooting and Operations of Boats: Diesel engine, Hydraulic applications, Diving gears mantainance, Electric and Electronics circuits, Sonar (Active and Passive), Radar, GPS, Telemetry and sensors, Ethernet based applications.
PC Hardware assemby and programming, Microcontrollers, Matlab/Phyton coding and various other analysis softwares.
Education
2012
Univesity of St Andrews, UK
PhD in Biological Oceanography.
Thesis title: The use of active sonar to study cetaceans.
2002
Universita' degli Studi di Pavia, IT
Bachelor (MSc Equivalent) in Nature Conservation and Managment
Thesis title: "Vocal activity of Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Ligurian Sea”
Technical memorandum: ” Satellite systems: GPS and GLONASS comparison”.
OTHER RELEVANT PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION:
MERCHANT MARINER CREDENTIAL (Available upon request)
NORWEGIAN SERVICE BOOK - SECOND MATE
PADI MASTER SCUBA DIVER TRAINER MSDT #961691
CERTIFIED PAM OPERATOR
CERTIFIED SONAR OPERATOR
Professional Experience
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2021 – present: Director of Operations at Whales & Co. LLC (Oxnard, CA)
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2019 - Sonar specialist - directing in-situ sonar operations for the Macquarie University Marine Predator Research Group - Bermagui (Australia)
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2018 – 2020 Senior Scientist at Biowaves Incorporated (San Diego, CA)
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2018 (Mar-May) Acoustics Chief Scientist for the PS112 Expedition of the Alfred-Wegener Institute for polar research - RV Polarstern
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2017 (Jan-Mar) Acoustic Chief Scientist for the Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition (ACE) - RV Akademik Tryoshnikov
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2005 – 2017 Associate Researcher/Scientist at the Institute of Marine Research (Bergen, Norway)
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2015 – 2016 Acoustic Chief Scientist - Pangaea-Chagos Initiative: Monitor abundance of coral reef fish species - MY Pangaea Ocean Explorer
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2014- 2015 (Summer) second mate and sonar operation for IMR Coordinated Ecosystem survey of the Norwegian Sea - MV Brennholm
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2014 (Feb-Mar) Marine Mammal Observer for the Nordic Sea Experiment - RV Knorr
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2013 (Summer) Instruments operation coordinator and sonar operator for IMR Coordinated Ecosystem survey of the Norwegian Sea - MV Libas
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2012 (Autumn) Chief sonar operator for IMR Coordinated Ecosystem survey of the Norwegian Sea - MV Christina E
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2012 (Summer) second mate in training and sonar operations for IMR Coordinated Ecosystem survey of the Norwegian Sea - MV Brennholm
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2009-2011 (Summer) sonar operator for IMR Coordinated Ecosystem survey of the Norwegian Sea - MV Libas
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2008 (Summer) sonar operator for IMR Coordinated Ecosystem survey of the Norwegian Sea - MV Eros
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2008 (May) PERG (University of St Andrews) Acoustic personal - Jellyfish Acoustics Survey of the Irish Sea - RV Prince Madog
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2007 Start the PhD project: “Use of scanning sonars as quantitative tools for cetaceans’ conservation and behavioural ecology studies”
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2007 (Summer) Sonar Operator for IMR Coordinated Ecosystem survey of the Norwegian Sea - MV Eros
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2006 (Summer) PADI OWD instructor and Scientific Advisor for PADI Project Aware divers at Bluinfinito Diving Center (Sardegna, Italy)
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2005-2007 Guest Investigator MAR-ECO project, hosted by Dr. L Nøttestad, Dr. BE Axelsen and Dr. JO Krakstad (IMR Bergen, Norway)
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2005 Crew - Sea trial: Testing Thyborøen trawl doors inside Lindåspollen (Norway) to study herrings' schooling dynamics. RV Hans Brattstrøm
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2005-2006: Field project - Vocalizations of the Tucuxi Dolphin (Sotalia fluviatilis) in the Gulf of Morrosquillo (Colombia)
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2004 Join the University of Milano Bicocca Physic Department in desiging a portable filter-preamplifier unit to record Cetaceans in the wild
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2003 (Jun-Oct) Dive Master, with Aquarius diving school (Coda Cavallo, Sardegna Italy)
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2003 (Jan-Apr) Research Assistant - Project: The Gould petrel (Pterodoma leucoptera) of Cabbage Tree Island. Wollongong University, Australia
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2001 Research Assistant in dedicated ICRAM’s cruises to satellite tracking fin whales in the Ligurian Sea, Italy
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2000 Research Assistant - NATO project “Sirena 2000” (SACLANTCEN - La Spezia, Italy) - Support Vessel RV Bestiaccia
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1999-2002 Deckhand/Technician - Ligurian Sea Cetaceans Acoustics Surveys for ICRAM (Italian Ministry of the Environment) - RV Bestiaccia
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1998 - 2000 Research Assistant - Professor Sergio Frugis Nature Conservation and Managment (University of Pavia, Italy)
Relevant Pubblications
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Bernasconi M, Pedersen and AS Brierley (xxxx) Fluke prints and their role as classifier for real time active acoustic whale detections. In preparation for the J Acou Soc Am
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Pauli NC, Flintrop CM, Konrad C, Pakhomov EA, Swoboda S, Koch F, Wang XL, Brierley AS, Bernasconi M, Meyer B and Iversen MH (2021) Krill and salp faecal pellets contribute equally to the carbon flux at the Antarctic Peninsula. Nat Commun 12, 7168 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27436-9
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Nøttestad L, Utne KR, Óskarsson GJ, Jónsson SÞ, Jacobsen JA, Tangen Ø, Anthonypillai V, Pena H, Bernasconi M, Debes H, Smith L, Sveinbjörnsson S, Holst JC and A Slotte (2016) Quantifying changes in abundance, biomass, and spatial distribution of Northeast Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus) in the Nordic Seas 2007 to 2014. ICES J Mar Sci 72(2): 359-373
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Nøttestad L, Krafft BA, Anthonpillai V, Tangen Ø, Langård L and M Bernasconi (2014) Observations of gadoid feeding by large whales in the Norwegian Sea. ICES CM 2014/j:07
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Demer D (Ed), Berger L, Bernasconi M, Boswell K, Chu D, Domokos R, Dunford A, Fässler S, Gauthier S, Hufnagle L, Jech MJ, Melvin G, Korneliussen R, Le Bouffant N, Lebourges-Dhaussy A, Lurton X, Macaulay GJ, Ryan T, Parker-Stetter S, Stienessen S, Weber T and N Williamson (2014) Calibrations of Acoustic Instruments. ICES Cooperative Research Report No. 326, 136 pp.
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Bernasconi M, Patel R, Pedersen G, Nøttestad L and Brierley AS (2013). The effect of depth on the target strength of a Humpback whale (Meagaptera novaengliae). J Acou Soc Am 134(6): 4316-4322
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Bernasconi M, Patel R, Pedersen G, Nøttestad L and Brierley AS (2013). The effect of depth on the target strength of a Humpback whale (Meagaptera novaengliae). J Acou Soc Am 134(6): 4316-4322
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Nøttestad L, Doksæter L, Krafft BA, Langård L, Anthonpillai V, Bernasconi M, Langøy H, Axelsen BE and Ferno A (2014) Prey selection of Killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Northeast Atlantic in late summer: spatial association with mackerel. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 499: 275-283
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Nøttestad L, Doksæter L, Krafft BA, Langård L, Anthonypillai V, Bernasconi M, Langøy H, Axelsen BE (2014) Ecological aspects of fin and humpback whale distribution during summer in the Norwegian Sea. Marine Ecology DOI: 10.1111/maec.12075
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Bernasconi M, Patel R, Nøttestad L and Brierley AS (2013). Fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus) target strength measurements. Mar Mam Sci 29(3): 371-388.
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Bernasconi M, Patel R and Nøttestad L (2012) Behavioral observations of baleen whales in proximity of a modern fishing vessel. In Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. Popper AN and Hawkins A eds Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, New York. pp: 335-338.
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Bernasconi M, Nøttestad L, Krakstad JO and Axelsen BE (2011) Dusky dolphins (Lagenorhyncus obscurus) hunting Cape horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus capensis) in the northern Benguela Region: acoustic observation of predator-prey interactions. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 429: 209-218.
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Nøttestad L, Patel R, Anthonypillai V, Tangen Ø, Henriksen I, Wennevik V, Ellersten B, Erices J, Langøy H, Bernasconi M, Petterson L, Golyak I, Holm M, Gill H, Pena H, Alvarez J, Skjold B, Hansen K, Kristiansen J, Johannessen M, Bente Martinussen M, Løkka G, Mulligan B and Holst JC (2009) Cruise report from the coordinated ecosystem survey and SALSEA salmon project with M/V ”Libas” and M/V ”Eros in the Norwegian Sea, 15 July - 6 August 2009. Havforsknings Instituttet survey number 2009818 (Libas) and 2009820 (Eros). Bergen, Norway.
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Nøttestad L, Pena H, Totland A, Gastauer S, Tangen Ø, Anthonypillai V, Petterson L, Patel R and Bernasconi M (2010) Toktrapport Havforskningsinstituttet. Nr.7-2010. ISSN 1503-6294.
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Bernasconi M, Patel R, Nøttestad L, Knudsen FR and Brierley AS (2009) Use of active sonar for cetacean conservation and behavioral-ecology studies: a paradox? Proceedings of the Institute of Acoustics Vol. 31 Pt.1. Loughbotough, UK.
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Bernasconi M, Nøttestad L, Krakstad JO and Axelsen BE (2007) In situ target strength (TS) measurements of a small cetacean: target tracking of individual dusky dolphins (Lagenorhyncus obscurus) in deep water. 17th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, Cape Town, South Africa, December 2007.
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Bernasconi M, Dussan-Duque S, DiIorio L and Passerini A (2005) Vocal behaviour of marine Tucuxi dolphins (Sotalia fluviatilis) in the Gulf of Morrosquillo, Colombia (Caribbean Sea). 16th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals, San Diego, California (also presented at SOLAMAC-LAJAM, Rio de Janeiro June 2006).