Effects of anthropogenic noise on haul-out numbers of harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina)
Haul-out sites of harbor seals, Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758, include areas with high levels of anthropogenic noise. In some cases, seals haul out at night when there are lower in-air noise levels. However, it is unclear whether there are additional responses to noise pollution. To determine potent...
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2023
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 2024-09-15T18:30:22+00:00 Effects of anthropogenic noise on haul-out numbers of harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina) Bankhead, Kyra Freeman, Grace Heimbichner Goebel, Wyatt Acevedo-Gutiérrez, Alejandro 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 101, issue 9, page 720-728 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 2023 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 2024-08-08T04:13:41Z Haul-out sites of harbor seals, Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758, include areas with high levels of anthropogenic noise. In some cases, seals haul out at night when there are lower in-air noise levels. However, it is unclear whether there are additional responses to noise pollution. To determine potential impacts of anthropogenic noise on haul-out behavior, we compared numbers of hauled-out harbor seals relative to in-air noise levels at two sites in Washington state, USA—one close to human activities (Bellingham waterfront) and one more distant (Semiahmoo marina)—between July 2020 and August 2021. We used generalized linear mixed models to identify predictors of seal numbers. The marina had lower mean noise levels than the waterfront (39.7 ± SD 6.1 dB, n = 29 observations versus 51.2 ± SD 5.2 dB, n = 126 observations). The plotted model prediction showed a significantly negative association between noise and seals at the marina, and no association was found at the waterfront. Results indicate that in-air noise levels may influence seal numbers at sites where human activities are low. They also suggest that, besides hauling out at night, seals may become tolerant to in-air noise levels at sites where human activities are high. Article in Journal/Newspaper Phoca vitulina Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 101 9 720 728 |
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Open Polar |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Haul-out sites of harbor seals, Phoca vitulina Linnaeus, 1758, include areas with high levels of anthropogenic noise. In some cases, seals haul out at night when there are lower in-air noise levels. However, it is unclear whether there are additional responses to noise pollution. To determine potential impacts of anthropogenic noise on haul-out behavior, we compared numbers of hauled-out harbor seals relative to in-air noise levels at two sites in Washington state, USA—one close to human activities (Bellingham waterfront) and one more distant (Semiahmoo marina)—between July 2020 and August 2021. We used generalized linear mixed models to identify predictors of seal numbers. The marina had lower mean noise levels than the waterfront (39.7 ± SD 6.1 dB, n = 29 observations versus 51.2 ± SD 5.2 dB, n = 126 observations). The plotted model prediction showed a significantly negative association between noise and seals at the marina, and no association was found at the waterfront. Results indicate that in-air noise levels may influence seal numbers at sites where human activities are low. They also suggest that, besides hauling out at night, seals may become tolerant to in-air noise levels at sites where human activities are high. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bankhead, Kyra Freeman, Grace Heimbichner Goebel, Wyatt Acevedo-Gutiérrez, Alejandro |
spellingShingle |
Bankhead, Kyra Freeman, Grace Heimbichner Goebel, Wyatt Acevedo-Gutiérrez, Alejandro Effects of anthropogenic noise on haul-out numbers of harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina) |
author_facet |
Bankhead, Kyra Freeman, Grace Heimbichner Goebel, Wyatt Acevedo-Gutiérrez, Alejandro |
author_sort |
Bankhead, Kyra |
title |
Effects of anthropogenic noise on haul-out numbers of harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina) |
title_short |
Effects of anthropogenic noise on haul-out numbers of harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina) |
title_full |
Effects of anthropogenic noise on haul-out numbers of harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina) |
title_fullStr |
Effects of anthropogenic noise on haul-out numbers of harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of anthropogenic noise on haul-out numbers of harbor seals ( Phoca vitulina) |
title_sort |
effects of anthropogenic noise on haul-out numbers of harbor seals ( phoca vitulina) |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 |
genre |
Phoca vitulina |
genre_facet |
Phoca vitulina |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 101, issue 9, page 720-728 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/cjz-2023-0053 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
101 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
720 |
op_container_end_page |
728 |
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1810471827744489472 |