Whale detection and microseismic monitoring via DAS using submarine telecommunications cables – a case study from the NWS, Western Australia

Henry Debens has been working as a Geophysicist at Woodside Energy since 2016, primarily in the Technology & Innovation group and lately as part of the Global Wells & Seismic group. He joined Woodside after completing an MSci in geophysics and a PhD in petroleum geophysics at Imperial College London. Henry’s work involves all aspects of the seismic data life cycle, with projects ranging from acquisition through to interpretation, but chiefly concerns the development and application of novel approaches to seismic imaging and inversion.

Denise McCorry is a Principal Biodiversity Scientist in the Corporate Services Biodiversity & Science team at Woodside Energy, based in Western Australia. Denise obtained her PhD from the University of Hong Kong and has held post-doctoral fellowships from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Zoological Society of London, and the University of British Columbia. Denise has over 20 years of experience in tropical marine ecological studies and marine protected-area planning and management in South East Asia (Hong Kong, Brunei, the Philippines, and Indonesia) and environmental impact assessment for the extractive industries. Her current role at Woodside focusses on the science partnership programs and scientific studies to underpin credible environmental impact assessments across all offshore business-stream activities in Australia.

Evgenii Sidenko is a Research Associate in the Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University. He received an MSc in geophysics (2012) from Lomonosov Moscow State University and a PhD (2023) from Curtin University. Evgenii worked as a data processing and seismic inversion geophysicist in various companies over 6 years. His research interests include DFOS, borehole seismic, and passive acoustic monitoring.

Christine Erbe is a John Curtin Distinguished Professor in Earth and Planetary Sciences at Curtin University and the Director of the Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. She holds a Master’s degree in Physics (University of Dortmund, Germany, 1993) and a PhD in Geophysics (University of British Columbia, Canada, 1998). She previously worked in industry (underwater acoustic consulting) and in government (noise effects on marine mammals and management thereof). Her research interests are underwater acoustics, marine bioacoustics, marine soundscapes, noise effects on animals, mitigation, and passive acoustic monitoring. She is a Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America. She is a Board member of the International Commission for Acoustics.

Olivia Collet joined Curtin University as a Research Fellow in 2022. She received an MSc (2010) in geophysics from the University of Strasbourg, France, and a PhD (2015) in exploration geophysics from Curtin University, Perth, Australia. She worked as a research geoscientist for CGG GeoSoftware for 5 years, where she contributed to developing anisotropy, rock physics, and machine learning software packages. She then held a postdoctoral position at the University of Pau and the Pays de l’Adour, France. Her research interests include DFOS, machine learning, rock physics, anisotropy, and reservoir characterisation.

Roman Pevzner received his BSc in geology (1999), MSc in geophysics (2001), and PhD in geophysics (2004), all from Lomonosov Moscow State University. From 2002 to 2008, he led the software development department at service company DECO Geophysical and undertook geophysical research and teaching at the same university. In 2008, Roman joined Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia, where he has worked as an Associate Professor and Professor (from 2018). His main areas of interest include subsurface monitoring using active and passive seismic methods, borehole seismic, DFOS for geophysical applications, and CO₂ geosequestration. Over the last 14 years, Roman has been involved in multiple CCS projects in Australia and abroad and has led the development of the seismic monitoring program for two recent stages of the CO2CRC Otway project. Roman has co-authored four book chapters, 86 journal papers, and more than 180 refereed conference publications.

Boris Gurevich has an MSc in geophysics (1976) from Moscow State University and a PhD (1988) from Institute of Geosystems, Moscow, Russia. After several research appointments in Germany, the UK, and Israel, in 2001 he joined Curtin University, where he currently serves as a John Curtin Distinguished Professor and Director of the Centre for Exploration Geophysics. Boris has over 100 journal publications in the areas of physics of rocks, poroelasticity, and geophysical monitoring of geological carbon storage, including a 2022 book on seismic attenuation and dispersion (with J. M. Carcione).