What SMRU Consulting does

SMRU Consulting is a specialist marine mammal consultancy that delivers environmental impact assessments (EIAs), appropriate assessments (AAs), population consequence modelling, and bespoke research to clients developing or operating in the marine environment. The firm serves offshore wind, tidal and wave energy, government, port authorities, defence, and oil and gas clients across the UK, Europe, and North America, with offices in St Andrews (UK), Vancouver (Canada), and Friday Harbor, WA (US). Its core technology stack combines purpose-built real-time passive acoustic monitoring hardware — the CAB Sentinel (single hydrophone) and the three-hydrophone CAB Guardian localisation system — with proprietary statistical frameworks, most notably the iPCoD population consequences of disturbance platform (open-source R package on GitHub) and the ACCURATE acoustic cue rate synthesis. Engagements are typically won through direct B2B sales, regulatory mandates, and collaborative research consortia, with revenue generated via time-and-materials professional services at daily fee rates supplemented by leased CAB hardware deployments and paid support for iPCoD. The firm operates as a trading name of SMRU Limited, part of the SOI Group affiliated with the University of St Andrews' Scottish Oceans Institute, and maintains long-running public infrastructure such as the Lime Kiln live hydrophone on San Juan Island.

Name

SMRU Consulting

Legal name

SMRU Limited

Website

https://smruconsulting.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SMRU Consulting is a specialist marine mammal consultancy providing environmental impact assessments, population consequence modelling, and real-time passive acoustic monitoring (CAB Sentinel and CAB Guardian buoys) to offshore wind, tidal energy, government, port authority, defence, and oil and gas clients across the UK, Europe, and North America.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Environmental Consulting

NAICS

Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (541690)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Offshore Wind & Marine Spatial Planning Regulation (EUAMANAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Marine & Offshore Energy O&M (Offshore Wind, Platforms, Subsea Assets) (EUAEAGAO)

Keywords

• Marine mammal consulting
• Environmental impact assessment
• Passive acoustic monitoring
• Offshore wind monitoring
• Population consequence modelling

Headquarters

HQ city

Friday Harbor

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Consulting and Professional Services: SMRU Consulting provides specialist marine mammal consultancy services to clients in the marine environment. Revenue is generated through consulting engagements structured as time-and-materials, fixed-fee, or other agreed basis. Standard daily fee rates apply for professional staff, with overtime charged at 50% of standard daily rate. Additional charges cover expenses (travel, accommodation, subsistence) and third-party services or materials required for project delivery.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

SMRU Consulting provides specialist marine mammal science consultancy including survey design, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), Appropriate Assessments (AAs), and population-level risk modelling. The firm also develops and sells proprietary passive acoustic monitoring hardware (CAB Sentinel and CAB Guardian buoys) and the open-source iPCoD population consequences of disturbance modelling framework for clients in offshore wind, tidal energy, government, infrastructure, defence, and oil and gas sectors.

Product overview

SMRU Consulting is a marine mammal consultancy offering a portfolio of acoustic monitoring products and scientific consulting services. The core product line includes the CAB (Communications Acoustic Buoy) family: the CAB Guardian with three hydrophones for whale localization and tracking during offshore wind construction, and the CAB Sentinel for lightweight detection monitoring. The company also provides the iPCoD statistical modeling platform for assessing population-level impacts of disturbance on marine mammals. Services include environmental impact assessments, population surveys, and risk frameworks across marine sectors including tidal energy, offshore wind, wave energy, government, infrastructure, defence, and oil and gas. Key research projects include ACCURATE (acoustic cue rates) and PCoD frameworks, with notable infrastructure including the Lime Kiln Live Hydrophone in the Salish Sea.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CAB Guardian: Real-time passive acoustic monitoring buoy with three hydrophones for detection, classification, location and tracking of marine mammals
• CAB Sentinel

Products and services

• CAB Guardian Three-hydrophone real-time passive acoustic monitoring buoy designed for whale detection, localization, and tracking during offshore wind construction. Enables determination of whale locations within exclusion zones using bearing intersection from multiple units, reducing false alarm rates by 6-12x compared to single-hydrophone systems.
• CAB Sentinel Lightweight battery-powered single-hydrophone acoustic monitoring buoy for detection of marine mammals. Can be handled by single person from small vessel, deployed with moorings or allowed to drift. Used for Southern Resident Killer Whale monitoring and ambient noise studies.
• iPCoD (interim Population Consequences of Disturbance) Statistical modelling framework to assess population-level impacts of noise disturbance on marine mammals. Available in two versions: iPCoD EE (Expert Elicitation) for harbour porpoise, grey seal, harbour seal, bottlenose dolphin, and minke whale; and iPCoD DEB (Dynamic Energy Budget) for harbour porpoise. Open-source R package hosted on GitHub.
• Marine Mammal Consulting Services Specialized consulting services including survey design and implementation, population assessments, risk frameworks, Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), and Appropriate Assessments (AAs) for marine sectors including renewables, government, infrastructure, and oil and gas.

Quantifiable outcome

• CAB Guardian multi-hydrophone localisation reduces false alarm rates by 6–12x compared to single hydrophone systems during offshore wind construction mitigation
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Ocean Wise Conservation AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2024Partnership to integrate SMRU Consulting's automated Lime Kiln hydrophone detections into Ocean Wise's Whale Report Alert System (WRAS), providing real-time whale alerts to commercial mariners in BC waters. Since June 2024, SMRU Consulting has sent over 100 real-time alerts, with 44% issued after daylight hours. Ocean Wise manages the WRAS platform and mariners network.
• Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFACE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNAVFAC serves as the funder of the ACCURATE project (Reference: N3943019C2176 Project 42), which aims to deliver a comprehensive synthesis of acoustic cue rates for passive acoustic density estimation. SMRU Consulting leads the project in collaboration with CREEM, Scripps, NOAA, NTNU, and other research partners, with NAVFAC providing funding and access to Navy ranges and requirements.
• CREEM (Centre for Research into Ecological & Environmental Modelling)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongstanding collaboration between SMRU Consulting and CREEM at the University of St Andrews, led by Prof. John Harwood and Dr. Len Thomas. Jointly developed the iPCoD framework, PCoD Lite, and PCoD+ projects. CREEM provides statistical modelling expertise complementary to SMRU Consulting's applied marine mammal science capabilities.
• The Whale Museum (San Juan Island)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSMRU Consulting North America and The Whale Museum jointly provide public access to the live hydrophone at Lime Kiln Lighthouse, part of The Whale Museum's Sea Sound Remote Sensing Network. SMRU Consulting installs and maintains the hydrophone node; The Whale Museum integrates it into its outreach and education programme. Partnership ongoing since approximately 2010.
• Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (ECHO Program)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSMRU Consulting has been a long-term collaborator in the Enhancing Cetacean Habitat and Observation (ECHO) Program led by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. Projects include Burrard Inlet ambient noise monitoring, vessel source level characterisation, and voluntary vessel slowdowns in Haro Strait and Boundary Pass. SMRU Consulting's CAB buoys are used for monitoring and source level measurements.
• SAIL (University of St Andrews)coreTechnology or IntegrationSMRU Consulting collaborated with SAIL (Stay-at-home Acoustic Instrumentation Lab) at the University of St Andrews to develop the Communications Acoustic Buoy (CAB), bringing real-time lightweight acoustic monitoring capability to market. SAIL contributed acoustic instrumentation expertise.
• Applied Physics Lab, University of Washington (APL-UW)coreTechnology or IntegrationCollaboration with APL-UW on the CAB and CABOW projects, including redesign of the CAB Guardian system with bottom lander and communication buoy architecture. APL contributed engineering expertise in acoustic instrumentation, data acquisition (Decimus processor), and underwater communications.
• PAMGuard (University of St Andrews)coreTechnology or IntegrationSMRU Consulting's CAB buoys utilise PAMGuard software, the industry-standard marine mammal acoustic detection software written by Dr. Doug Gillespie at the University of St Andrews. PAMGuard provides click detectors, whistle/moans detectors, and classifiers for baleen whales, dolphins, and porpoises.
• Tsleil-Waututh NationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSMRU Consulting worked with Tsleil-Waututh Nation partners on an underwater noise and cetacean study in Vancouver's Burrard Inlet, combining Indigenous knowledge with acoustic monitoring methodologies.
• Quiet Sound (Washington)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSMRU Consulting provides acoustic monitoring data from CAB deployments to Quiet Sound, a programme facilitating voluntary commercial vessel slowdowns in Admiralty Inlet and north Puget Sound to reduce noise impacts on Southern Resident killer whales.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• RPS Group: RPS Group is a large global environmental and marine consulting firm providing EIA, marine mammal assessment, and consenting support across offshore wind and marine infrastructure. They compete for the same offshore wind developer clients but as a broad multidisciplinary consultancy rather than a marine mammal specialist.
• SLR Consulting: SLR Consulting provides environmental and marine EIA services including marine mammal impact assessment for offshore wind and marine infrastructure. They compete in the same offshore wind consenting market but with a broader environmental and engineering services portfolio.
• ERM (Environmental Resources Management): ERM is a global environmental consultancy with a marine ecology practice supporting offshore wind EIAs, marine mammal assessments, and consenting processes. They serve many of the same offshore wind developer clients as SMRU Consulting but as a broad ESG and environmental services firm.
• Wood Group (Wood Environment & Infrastructure): Wood provides large-scale environmental impact assessment and consenting services for offshore wind and marine infrastructure projects globally. They compete for the same developer clients but operate as a broad engineering and environmental consultancy rather than a marine mammal specialist.

Direct peers

• Ocean Sonics: Ocean Sonics designs and manufactures compact, high-performance underwater acoustic recording systems including hydrophones and PAM platforms used by marine mammal researchers and offshore wind developers — competing with SMRU Consulting's CAB hardware line.
• Marine Ecology Consultants Ltd: MEC is a UK-based marine ecological consultancy providing marine mammal observation, PAM, and EIA services to offshore wind and marine infrastructure clients. They overlap with SMRU Consulting's core service offerings in the UK marine renewables market.
• JASCO Applied Sciences: JASCO is a direct competitor in marine acoustic consulting and underwater noise impact assessment. They provide similar PAM services, hydroacoustic studies, and marine mammal impact modeling for offshore wind, oil & gas, and government clients — and are already an SMRU Consulting collaborator on ECHO Program studies.
• Seiche Measurements: Seiche provides PAM equipment and services for marine mammal monitoring, including acoustic deterrents and noise measurement systems used in offshore wind and construction. They are a direct competitor in the PAM hardware and monitoring service space.
• Ocean Science Consulting Ltd: Ocean Science Consulting is a UK-based marine environmental consultancy providing marine mammal observation, passive acoustic monitoring, and EIA support services for offshore wind, oil & gas, and marine renewables — overlapping directly with SMRU Consulting's service portfolio.

Others

• Hatfield Marine Science Center / Marine Mammal Research Program (academic comparator): Oregon State University's marine mammal research programs provide academic competition for grant funding (NAVFAC, NOAA) and publish overlapping frameworks for marine mammal population assessment. They are not commercial competitors but compete for the same research funding pool that supports SMRU Consulting's framework development.

Market position

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SMRU_Consulting
• Facebookfacebook.com/smruconsulting

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SMRU Consulting