Acoustic Recorders to Support Passive Acoustic Monitoring Operations

This publication serves as a notice of proposed contract action under the authority of FAR Part 12 and Subpart 13.5 with Ocean Instruments NZ for Acoustic Recorders to Support Passive Acoustic Monitoring Operations: BACKGROUND: A determination not to compete this proposed contract was made pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.501(a). Due to the unique and highly specialized nature of the acoustic recorders, that only one source is capable of providing these supplies required at the level of quality required for the entire scope of work. The manufacturer, Ocean Instruments NZ, is the only distributor of its equipment, and is the only firm offering hydrophones that meet the specific technical requirements for these supplies, including minimum sampling rates, number of recording channels, and maximum depth. Multiple NFMS Science Centers and National Marine Sanctuary office have purchased and currently use SoundTrap recorders to carry out marine mammal and ocean noise monitoring projects throughout US and international waters. These units have been used with great success in remote and harsh field conditions. Continued use of SoundTraps with facilitate cross project/site comparison by enabling direct comparison of like data collected by these units with data collected in other locations and for other purposes. Additionally, these units are the only hydrophone recorders on the market that utilize an automated click detector, enabling prolonged battery life resulting in longer deployment time, while still detecting and recording their frequencies produced by odontometers (toothed whales) when they are present. Failing to obtain recorders that do not meet all required specifications will result in complete or low quality recordings, hindering the mission goal to improve abundance estimates and study cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) and other marine mammals. Ocean Instruments NZ recorders are well-tested and perform well in a variety of applications and are the only small, lightweight recorder available that can meet the deployment duration, sampling rate, and deployment depth capabilities required. The recorders are the only available devices capable of meeting NOAA's research goals, and are only manufactured and sold/distributed by this company. The recording units required have distinct specifications. The current requirements include the recording capabilities described below, and the products and configurations that are currently commercially available. OBJECTIVE: This monitoring work utilizes acoustic recording packages anchored to the seafloor, configured into autonomous drifters, and a variety of other case-specific uses, such as units attached to fishing gear, vessels, or autonomous vehicles. These applications require a flexible, and highly technically capable recording unit. Nearly all applications require user-programmable acoustic recording schedules and sampling rates and must be capable of scheduled operation or user-friendly remote operation. Some operations require very high-frequency acoustic sampling, multi-channel recording, and/or swappable hydrophones specific to project requirements. SCOPE: Equipment and ancillary supplies shall demonstrate and/or offer the following features: 1. Flexible mooring and attachment methods, including seafloor anchoring, autonomous drifter attachment and fishing gear, autonomous vehicle or vessel attachment. 2. User programmable acoustic recording schedules and acoustic sampling rates. 3. User friendly remote control operation. 4. Capable of scheduled operation times. 5. Data output to WAV format. 6. Lossless audio compression. 7. Tri-axial accelerometer sensor. 8. Temperature sensor. 9. Flood proof housing. 10. Low self-noise (Better than sea state 0, (100 Hz - 2 kHz; Less than 41 dB re 1 ?Pa above 2 kHz). 11. Provide flexibility and customizability of configurations to accommodate the variety of deployment purposes, sampling resolutions and different applications necessary to collect data among the diverse group of research projects across NMFS science centers. Research and development of new products or systems is outside of the scope of this requirement. This notice represents the only official notice of this solicitation. This notice of intent is not a solicitation or request for competitive proposals; however, all submittals received by the due set forth in this notice will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete this requirement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. It is the Government's belief that only In Ocean Instruments NZ can provide these supplies and ancillary services. However, other potential sources with the expertise and required capabilities to provide these services may submit such data which demonstrates the technical requirements stated above in duplicate no later than 7 calendar days from the date of the posting of this announcement. This data must include sufficient information to allow NOAA to evaluate the proposal relative to the technical requirements stated above. Offerors should include a description of significant collaboration and subcontracting that will be required to provide technically acceptable deliverables. No cost or pricing data is required. Responses shall be e-mailed to contact@example.gov.