Quantifying Effects of Mid-Frequency Sonar Transmissions on Fish and Whale

• Main Author: Foote, Kenneth G.
• Other Authors: WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION MA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Biological Oceanography; Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Acoustic Detection and Detectors; *BEHAVIOR; *WHALES; *FISHES; *SONAR; *ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT; IN SITU ANALYSIS; SALINITY; MEDIUM FREQUENCY; DEPTH; PROBABILITY DENSITY FUNCTIONS; OBSERVATION; GRAPHS; TEMPERATURE; CALIBRATION; MF(MIDFREQUENCY); HERRING; PARAMETRIC SONAR; ECHOGRAMS; Norwegian Sea; Kongsberg
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA541699; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA541699

There are two high-level goals: to understand and quantify effects of mid-frequency (MF) sonar on fish and whale behavior through direct observation, and to investigate the potential usefulness of MF sonar in acoustic measurements of fish, including stock assessments. The initial objectives are to prove the usefulness of the Kongsberg TOPAS PS18 sub-bottom profiling parametric sonar for observing fish in the water column, and to establish protocols for calibrating the difference-frequency band of this sonar. The TOPAS parametric sonar will then be used as a mid-frequency (MF) sound source, with the aim of collecting data on herring in situ in the Norwegian Sea and ex situ in pens at the Austevoll Aquaculture Research Station. The data will be analyzed to determine possible behavioral responses of herring to MF sonar transmissions. Ultimately it is the aim to integrate acoustic data on herring with independently collected tagging data from whales to quantify behavioral effects of MF sonar.