Also called: PAM Operator, PAM Technician
Listens through underwater microphones for whales and dolphins so offshore construction can pause before harming them.
When an offshore wind farm hammers giant piles into the seabed, the noise can hurt whales. The PAM operator sits in a ship cabin wearing headphones, watching sound spectrograms for whale calls and clicks. If an animal comes too close, they call a shutdown and the work stops.
Paid by day rate on vessels; work comes in projects.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor’s in marine biology or acoustics plus a PAM training course.
Ways in: 4-year college, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Marine Biology, Biology, Acoustics.
Growing faster than average. Required on many offshore wind and seismic projects.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI detectors already flag many whale calls, so fewer listeners may be needed, but regulators still want a human deciding.
Classes: Biology, Physics, Computer science.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.