In anti-submarine warfare (ASW), sound is the foremost mechanism for the detection of potential threats. To detect a potential enemy underwater the sonar operator must be familiar not only with the acoustic signatures of the threats, but also with the many and varied noises from non-threat sources in the ocean. Some of the most prolific of these sources are biological. SANDS is a research tool aimed primarily at providing a reference set of biological noises for training purposes. As well as examples of the sounds, it contains stills and movies for species identification purposes. It also includes diagrams and textual information for each species on particular subjects at different levels of detail. Facilities are provided to search for specific species and examples on various criteria. Over 6,500 digitised sound examples, covering 34 species, have been collated through research organisations in America and Europe. These are stored as digitised time-series files, along with associated textual information. While the system has been designed primarily to support aural training, it has application to many other areas of research. It is probably the most comprehensive database of its kind in the United Kingdom, possibly in Europe.
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