Assessing risk of underwater noise impact on marine mammals throughout a new methodology

2018 ◽  
Vol 144 (3) ◽  
pp. 1885-1885
Author(s):  
Marie Mauran ◽  
Florent Le Courtois ◽  
Marie Cachera ◽  
Yann Stéphan ◽  
Jérôme Spitz ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Xinhai Zhang ◽  
Xiaomei Xu ◽  
Xinbing Tu ◽  
Wenpeng Wang ◽  
Yougan Chen

2011 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 2538-2538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Erbe

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 438-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
William D. Halliday ◽  
Matthew K. Pine ◽  
Stephen J. Insley

Underwater noise is an important issue globally. Underwater noise can cause auditory masking, behavioural disturbance, hearing damage, and even death for marine animals. While underwater noise levels have been increasing in nonpolar regions, noise levels are thought to be much lower in the Arctic where the presence of sea ice limits anthropogenic activities. However, climate change is causing sea ice to decrease, which is allowing for increased access for noisy anthropogenic activities. Underwater noise may have more severe impacts in the Arctic compared with nonpolar regions due to a combination of lower ambient sound levels and increased sensitivity of Arctic marine animals to underwater noise. Here, we review ambient sound levels in the Arctic, as well as the reactions of Arctic and sub-Arctic marine mammals to underwater noise. We then relate what is known about underwater noise in the Arctic to policies and management solutions for underwater noise and discuss whether Arctic-specific policies are necessary.


2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (01) ◽  
pp. 1440007
Author(s):  
YU-CHEN CHENG ◽  
SHENG-FONG LIN ◽  
YUAN-YING CHANG ◽  
CHI-FANG CHEN ◽  
CHEN-FAR HUNG ◽  
...  

Offshore wind farms are the main project on Taiwan's western coast. Since the underwater noise generated by piling poses a threat to marine mammals, the issue of the detrimental impact of noise on Sousa Chinensis has drawn considerable attention. To avoid behavioral disturbances and injury from pile driving noise, we propose the Underwater Noise Impact Region Alert System (UNIRAS) to estimate the acoustic field at any depth and distance from the piling sources. The system can be illustrated as four components: environment databases, an acoustic propagation model, source modeling and alert region (AR) prediction. Inputs are derived from the Taiwan Coastal Ocean Nowcast/Forecast System (TCONFS), which generates underwater sound speed profiles with temporal and spatial variation, along with geoacoustic and bathymetry databases that are imported as environmental inputs. Adiabatic mode theory is used to simulate the piling noise propagation in shallow water and the impulsive noise emanating from the source is evaluated via the finite element method. With the auditory threshold of cetacean being set as the criterion level, the system can demonstrate the modeling outputs and predict the noise impact region, and these results are useful for planning how to station the guard boats to prevent dolphins from entering the noise impact region.


2016 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 635-651 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony D. Hawkins ◽  
Arthur N. Popper

Increasing attention is being paid to the ecological consequences of underwater noise generated by human activities such as shipping and maritime industries including, but not limited to, oil and gas exploration and extraction, sonar systems, dredging and the construction of offshore renewable energy devices. There is particular concern over the extension of these activities into previously undeveloped areas of the oceans, including Polar Regions and areas of coral reef habitat. Most of the concern by regulators and others has focussed upon effects upon marine mammals and other protected species. However, examining the impacts upon the overall ecology of affected habitats is also important as it may be dominated by effects upon the far larger biomasses of fishes and invertebrates, which do not have the same degree of legal protection. Many of these assessments of the impact of noise on fishes and invertebrates have overlooked important issues, including the sensitivity of a substantial proportion of these species to particle motion rather than sound pressure. Attempts have been made to establish sound exposure criteria setting regulatory limits to the levels of noise in terms of effects upon mortality levels, injury to tissues, hearing abilities, behaviour, and physiology. However, such criteria have almost exclusively been developed for marine mammals. Criteria for fishes and invertebrates have often had to be assumed, or they have been derived from poorly designed and controlled studies. Moreover, the metrics employed to describe sounds from different sources have often been inappropriate, especially for fishes, and invertebrates, as they have been based on sound pressure rather than particle motion. In addition, the sound propagation models employed to assess the distances over which effects might occur have seldom been validated by actual measurements and are especially poor at dealing with transmission under shallow water conditions, close to or within the seabed, or at the surface. Finally, impacts on fish and invertebrate populations are often unknown and remain unassessed. This paper considers the problems of assessing the impact of noise upon fishes and invertebrates and the assessment procedures that need to be implemented to protect these animals and the marine ecosystems of which they form an integral part. The paper also suggests directions for future research and planning that, if implemented, will provide for a far better scientific and regulatory basis for dealing with effects of noise on aquatic life.


2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 41-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Tyack ◽  
Jonathan Gordon ◽  
David Thompson

Controlled exposure experiments or CEEs are an important technique for determining the responses of animals to signals that are not part of their own communicative repertoire. CEEs are useful for establishing the relationship between acoustic dosage and behavioral response, a critical element of risk assessment, similar to dose:response studies for exposure to chemicals. CEEs share some properties with “playback” experiments; the main difference between playbacks and CEEs is that CEEs involve the careful titration of acoustic exposure to the point where specific responses are observed. Most CEEs are applied research designed to answer questions related to wildlife conservation. The utility and power of CEEs lies in providing a sensitive measure of causal relationships between behavioral responses and particular stimuli. We review design features and experimental methods for CEEs, limiting our scope for this paper to studying the effects of underwater noise on wild marine mammals.


2010 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 888-897 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Bailey ◽  
Bridget Senior ◽  
Dave Simmons ◽  
Jan Rusin ◽  
Gordon Picken ◽  
...  

2006 ◽  
Vol 309 ◽  
pp. 279-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
PT Madsen ◽  
M Wahlberg ◽  
J Tougaard ◽  
K Lucke ◽  
P Tyack

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