Dive Distribution and Group Size Parameters for Marine Species Occurring in Navy Training and Testing Areas in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans

• Main Authors: Watwood, Stephanie L, Buonantony, Danielle M
• Other Authors: NAVAL UNDERSEA WARFARE CENTER DIV NEWPORT RI
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Ecology; Biological Oceanography; Acoustic Detection and Detectors; Acoustics; Noise Pollution and Control; *AQUATIC ANIMALS; *NAVAL TRAINING; *UNDERWATER ACOUSTICS; BEHAVIOR; CETACEA; MANMADE; NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN; NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN; TURTLES; DIVE DISTRIBUTION; GROUP SIZE; MARINE MAMMALS; SEA TURTLES; NAEMO(NAVY ACOUSTIC EFFECTS MODEL); PHASE II; AFTT(ATLANTIC FLEET TRAINING AND TESTING); HSTT(HAWAII-SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TRAINING AND TESTING); MITT(MARIANA ISLANDS TRAINING AND TESTING); NWTT(NORTHWEST TRAINING AND TESTING); GOA; MED; UNDERWATER ANTHROPOGENIC SOUNDS; Gulf of Alaska; Pacific; North Atlantic; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA560975; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA560975

One important element of Phase II environmental planning is the acoustic effects analysis executed with the Navy Acoustic Exposure Model (NAEMO) software. NAEMO was developed to explore possible exposure of anthropogenic sound on marine animals, combining established acoustic propagation modeling with data regarding the distribution and abundance of marine species. This report recommends species-typical static depth distributions and group size information for all marine mammal and sea turtle species that occur in the Atlantic Fleet Training and Testing (AFTT), Hawaii-Southern California Training and Testing (HSTT), Northwest Training and Testing (NWTT), and Mariana Islands Training and Testing (MITT) Study Areas that will be modeled using NAEMO for Phase II analyses. Additionally, group size information is presented for species occurring in the AFTT, HSTT, NWTT, Mediterranean Training and Testing (MED), and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) Study Areas. In total, data are presented for 54 cetacean, 12 pinniped, one mustelid, one sirenian, and six sea turtle species. Prepared in collaboration with Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Atlantic. The original document contains color images.