Ship-based RPA operations for cetacean research in Antarctica: progress, opportunities and challenges

The ENRICH research voyage would not have been possible without the tenacity, hard work and support of many. In particular, we thank Karen Westwood for project management and Natalie Kelly for being the driving force behind the survey design and voyage Science Plan. We greatly appreciate the hard work and support of our AAD colleagues in the Science Branch, Science Technical Support, Operations, the Executive, Science Planning and Coordination, Human Resources, Media and Public Affairs, IT, the Polar Medicine Unit and the Australian Antarctic Data Centre. We thank Captain Adrian Koolhof and his crew, Lisa Woodward, Linda Gaskell and MNF staff. We would like to particularly acknowledge the significant contribution of both Alexander Vail and James Cox whose expert RPA abilities enabled the collection of much of the data discussed here and to who we are most grateful. Sincere thanks to all the scientists on board who worked long hours in often tough conditions to maximise what was achieved. Many thanks to Dr Brian Miller and Dr Elanor Bell for their feedback on earlier versions of this manuscript and to Dr Doug Thost for running his expert eye over the technical RPA components, in particular. Huge thank you also to Simon Wotherspoon who assisted with analyses to finalise the quality control of the original data set. Thank you to the reviewers for their constructive comments.