Stuck in a corner: Anthropogenic noise threatens narwhals in their once pristine Arctic habitat
Niche-conservative species are especially susceptible to changes in their environment, and detecting the negative effects of new stressors in their habitats is vital for safeguarding of these species. In the Arctic, human disturbance including marine traffic and exploration of resources is increasin...
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade0440 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.ade0440 |
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craaas:10.1126/sciadv.ade0440 2024-09-30T14:29:52+00:00 Stuck in a corner: Anthropogenic noise threatens narwhals in their once pristine Arctic habitat Tervo, Outi M. Blackwell, Susanna B. Ditlevsen, Susanne Garde, Eva Hansen, Rikke G. Samson, Adeline L. Conrad, Alexander S. Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade0440 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.ade0440 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science Advances volume 9, issue 30 ISSN 2375-2548 journal-article 2023 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade0440 2024-09-19T04:01:04Z Niche-conservative species are especially susceptible to changes in their environment, and detecting the negative effects of new stressors in their habitats is vital for safeguarding of these species. In the Arctic, human disturbance including marine traffic and exploration of resources is increasing rapidly due to climate change–induced reduction of sea ice. Here, we show that the narwhal, Monodon monoceros , is extremely sensitive to human-made noise. Narwhals avoided deep diving (> 350 m) with simultaneous reduction of foraging and increased shallow diving activity as a response to either ship sound alone or ship sound with concurrent seismic airgun pulses. Normal behavior decreased by 50 to 75% at distances where received sound levels were below background noise. Narwhals were equally responsive to both disturbance types, hence demonstrating their acute sensitivity to ship sound. This sensitivity coupled with their special behavioral-ecological strategy including a narrow ecological niche and high site fidelity makes them thus especially vulnerable to human impacts in the Arctic. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Monodon monoceros narwhal* Sea ice AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Arctic Science Advances 9 30 |
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Open Polar |
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AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
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craaas |
language |
English |
description |
Niche-conservative species are especially susceptible to changes in their environment, and detecting the negative effects of new stressors in their habitats is vital for safeguarding of these species. In the Arctic, human disturbance including marine traffic and exploration of resources is increasing rapidly due to climate change–induced reduction of sea ice. Here, we show that the narwhal, Monodon monoceros , is extremely sensitive to human-made noise. Narwhals avoided deep diving (> 350 m) with simultaneous reduction of foraging and increased shallow diving activity as a response to either ship sound alone or ship sound with concurrent seismic airgun pulses. Normal behavior decreased by 50 to 75% at distances where received sound levels were below background noise. Narwhals were equally responsive to both disturbance types, hence demonstrating their acute sensitivity to ship sound. This sensitivity coupled with their special behavioral-ecological strategy including a narrow ecological niche and high site fidelity makes them thus especially vulnerable to human impacts in the Arctic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tervo, Outi M. Blackwell, Susanna B. Ditlevsen, Susanne Garde, Eva Hansen, Rikke G. Samson, Adeline L. Conrad, Alexander S. Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter |
spellingShingle |
Tervo, Outi M. Blackwell, Susanna B. Ditlevsen, Susanne Garde, Eva Hansen, Rikke G. Samson, Adeline L. Conrad, Alexander S. Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter Stuck in a corner: Anthropogenic noise threatens narwhals in their once pristine Arctic habitat |
author_facet |
Tervo, Outi M. Blackwell, Susanna B. Ditlevsen, Susanne Garde, Eva Hansen, Rikke G. Samson, Adeline L. Conrad, Alexander S. Heide-Jørgensen, Mads Peter |
author_sort |
Tervo, Outi M. |
title |
Stuck in a corner: Anthropogenic noise threatens narwhals in their once pristine Arctic habitat |
title_short |
Stuck in a corner: Anthropogenic noise threatens narwhals in their once pristine Arctic habitat |
title_full |
Stuck in a corner: Anthropogenic noise threatens narwhals in their once pristine Arctic habitat |
title_fullStr |
Stuck in a corner: Anthropogenic noise threatens narwhals in their once pristine Arctic habitat |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stuck in a corner: Anthropogenic noise threatens narwhals in their once pristine Arctic habitat |
title_sort |
stuck in a corner: anthropogenic noise threatens narwhals in their once pristine arctic habitat |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade0440 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/sciadv.ade0440 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Monodon monoceros narwhal* Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Monodon monoceros narwhal* Sea ice |
op_source |
Science Advances volume 9, issue 30 ISSN 2375-2548 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.ade0440 |
container_title |
Science Advances |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
30 |
_version_ |
1811635041319518208 |