Beaked whales respond to simulated and actual navy sonar.
Beaked whales have mass stranded during some naval sonar exercises, but the cause is unknown. They are difficult to sight but can reliably be detected by listening for echolocation clicks produced during deep foraging dives. Listening for these clicks, we documented Blainville's beaked whales,...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a44eaccea201429ab7691000e63e34d6 2023-05-15T17:03:41+02:00 Beaked whales respond to simulated and actual navy sonar. Peter L Tyack Walter M X Zimmer David Moretti Brandon L Southall Diane E Claridge John W Durban Christopher W Clark Angela D'Amico Nancy DiMarzio Susan Jarvis Elena McCarthy Ronald Morrissey Jessica Ward Ian L Boyd 2011-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0017009 https://doaj.org/article/a44eaccea201429ab7691000e63e34d6 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21423729/pdf/?tool=EBI https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017009 https://doaj.org/article/a44eaccea201429ab7691000e63e34d6 PLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 3, p e17009 (2011) Medicine R Science Q article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0017009 2022-12-31T09:23:21Z Beaked whales have mass stranded during some naval sonar exercises, but the cause is unknown. They are difficult to sight but can reliably be detected by listening for echolocation clicks produced during deep foraging dives. Listening for these clicks, we documented Blainville's beaked whales, Mesoplodon densirostris, in a naval underwater range where sonars are in regular use near Andros Island, Bahamas. An array of bottom-mounted hydrophones can detect beaked whales when they click anywhere within the range. We used two complementary methods to investigate behavioral responses of beaked whales to sonar: an opportunistic approach that monitored whale responses to multi-day naval exercises involving tactical mid-frequency sonars, and an experimental approach using playbacks of simulated sonar and control sounds to whales tagged with a device that records sound, movement, and orientation. Here we show that in both exposure conditions beaked whales stopped echolocating during deep foraging dives and moved away. During actual sonar exercises, beaked whales were primarily detected near the periphery of the range, on average 16 km away from the sonar transmissions. Once the exercise stopped, beaked whales gradually filled in the center of the range over 2-3 days. A satellite tagged whale moved outside the range during an exercise, returning over 2-3 days post-exercise. The experimental approach used tags to measure acoustic exposure and behavioral reactions of beaked whales to one controlled exposure each of simulated military sonar, killer whale calls, and band-limited noise. The beaked whales reacted to these three sound playbacks at sound pressure levels below 142 dB re 1 µPa by stopping echolocation followed by unusually long and slow ascents from their foraging dives. The combined results indicate similar disruption of foraging behavior and avoidance by beaked whales in the two different contexts, at exposures well below those used by regulators to define disturbance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Killer Whale Killer whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 6 3 e17009 |
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topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Peter L Tyack Walter M X Zimmer David Moretti Brandon L Southall Diane E Claridge John W Durban Christopher W Clark Angela D'Amico Nancy DiMarzio Susan Jarvis Elena McCarthy Ronald Morrissey Jessica Ward Ian L Boyd Beaked whales respond to simulated and actual navy sonar. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Beaked whales have mass stranded during some naval sonar exercises, but the cause is unknown. They are difficult to sight but can reliably be detected by listening for echolocation clicks produced during deep foraging dives. Listening for these clicks, we documented Blainville's beaked whales, Mesoplodon densirostris, in a naval underwater range where sonars are in regular use near Andros Island, Bahamas. An array of bottom-mounted hydrophones can detect beaked whales when they click anywhere within the range. We used two complementary methods to investigate behavioral responses of beaked whales to sonar: an opportunistic approach that monitored whale responses to multi-day naval exercises involving tactical mid-frequency sonars, and an experimental approach using playbacks of simulated sonar and control sounds to whales tagged with a device that records sound, movement, and orientation. Here we show that in both exposure conditions beaked whales stopped echolocating during deep foraging dives and moved away. During actual sonar exercises, beaked whales were primarily detected near the periphery of the range, on average 16 km away from the sonar transmissions. Once the exercise stopped, beaked whales gradually filled in the center of the range over 2-3 days. A satellite tagged whale moved outside the range during an exercise, returning over 2-3 days post-exercise. The experimental approach used tags to measure acoustic exposure and behavioral reactions of beaked whales to one controlled exposure each of simulated military sonar, killer whale calls, and band-limited noise. The beaked whales reacted to these three sound playbacks at sound pressure levels below 142 dB re 1 µPa by stopping echolocation followed by unusually long and slow ascents from their foraging dives. The combined results indicate similar disruption of foraging behavior and avoidance by beaked whales in the two different contexts, at exposures well below those used by regulators to define disturbance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Peter L Tyack Walter M X Zimmer David Moretti Brandon L Southall Diane E Claridge John W Durban Christopher W Clark Angela D'Amico Nancy DiMarzio Susan Jarvis Elena McCarthy Ronald Morrissey Jessica Ward Ian L Boyd |
author_facet |
Peter L Tyack Walter M X Zimmer David Moretti Brandon L Southall Diane E Claridge John W Durban Christopher W Clark Angela D'Amico Nancy DiMarzio Susan Jarvis Elena McCarthy Ronald Morrissey Jessica Ward Ian L Boyd |
author_sort |
Peter L Tyack |
title |
Beaked whales respond to simulated and actual navy sonar. |
title_short |
Beaked whales respond to simulated and actual navy sonar. |
title_full |
Beaked whales respond to simulated and actual navy sonar. |
title_fullStr |
Beaked whales respond to simulated and actual navy sonar. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Beaked whales respond to simulated and actual navy sonar. |
title_sort |
beaked whales respond to simulated and actual navy sonar. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0017009 https://doaj.org/article/a44eaccea201429ab7691000e63e34d6 |
genre |
Killer Whale Killer whale |
genre_facet |
Killer Whale Killer whale |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 6, Iss 3, p e17009 (2011) |
op_relation |
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/21423729/pdf/?tool=EBI https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017009 https://doaj.org/article/a44eaccea201429ab7691000e63e34d6 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0017009 |
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PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
6 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
e17009 |
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1766057590007005184 |