Vessel noise levels drive behavioural responses of humpback whales with implications for whale-watching
Disturbance from whale-watching can cause significant behavioural changes with fitness consequences for targeted whale populations. However, the sensory stimuli triggering these responses are unknown, preventing effective mitigation. Here, we test the hypothesis that vessel noise level is a driver o...
Published in: | eLife |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324156/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32539930 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56760 |
id |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:7324156 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftpubmed:oai:pubmedcentral.nih.gov:7324156 2023-05-15T17:10:50+02:00 Vessel noise levels drive behavioural responses of humpback whales with implications for whale-watching Sprogis, Kate R Videsen, Simone Madsen, Peter T 2020-06-16 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324156/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32539930 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56760 en eng eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324156/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32539930 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56760 © 2020, Sprogis et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited. CC-BY eLife Ecology Text 2020 ftpubmed https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56760 2020-07-05T00:59:13Z Disturbance from whale-watching can cause significant behavioural changes with fitness consequences for targeted whale populations. However, the sensory stimuli triggering these responses are unknown, preventing effective mitigation. Here, we test the hypothesis that vessel noise level is a driver of disturbance, using humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) as a model species. We conducted controlled exposure experiments (n = 42) on resting mother-calf pairs on a resting ground off Australia, by simulating whale-watch scenarios with a research vessel (range 100 m, speed 1.5 knts) playing back vessel noise at control/low (124/148 dB), medium (160 dB) or high (172 dB) low frequency-weighted source levels (re 1 μPa RMS@1 m). Compared to control/low treatments, during high noise playbacks the mother’s proportion of time resting decreased by 30%, respiration rate doubled and swim speed increased by 37%. We therefore conclude that vessel noise is an adequate driver of behavioural disturbance in whales and that regulations to mitigate the impact of whale-watching should include noise emission standards. Text Megaptera novaeangliae PubMed Central (PMC) eLife 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
PubMed Central (PMC) |
op_collection_id |
ftpubmed |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Sprogis, Kate R Videsen, Simone Madsen, Peter T Vessel noise levels drive behavioural responses of humpback whales with implications for whale-watching |
topic_facet |
Ecology |
description |
Disturbance from whale-watching can cause significant behavioural changes with fitness consequences for targeted whale populations. However, the sensory stimuli triggering these responses are unknown, preventing effective mitigation. Here, we test the hypothesis that vessel noise level is a driver of disturbance, using humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) as a model species. We conducted controlled exposure experiments (n = 42) on resting mother-calf pairs on a resting ground off Australia, by simulating whale-watch scenarios with a research vessel (range 100 m, speed 1.5 knts) playing back vessel noise at control/low (124/148 dB), medium (160 dB) or high (172 dB) low frequency-weighted source levels (re 1 μPa RMS@1 m). Compared to control/low treatments, during high noise playbacks the mother’s proportion of time resting decreased by 30%, respiration rate doubled and swim speed increased by 37%. We therefore conclude that vessel noise is an adequate driver of behavioural disturbance in whales and that regulations to mitigate the impact of whale-watching should include noise emission standards. |
format |
Text |
author |
Sprogis, Kate R Videsen, Simone Madsen, Peter T |
author_facet |
Sprogis, Kate R Videsen, Simone Madsen, Peter T |
author_sort |
Sprogis, Kate R |
title |
Vessel noise levels drive behavioural responses of humpback whales with implications for whale-watching |
title_short |
Vessel noise levels drive behavioural responses of humpback whales with implications for whale-watching |
title_full |
Vessel noise levels drive behavioural responses of humpback whales with implications for whale-watching |
title_fullStr |
Vessel noise levels drive behavioural responses of humpback whales with implications for whale-watching |
title_full_unstemmed |
Vessel noise levels drive behavioural responses of humpback whales with implications for whale-watching |
title_sort |
vessel noise levels drive behavioural responses of humpback whales with implications for whale-watching |
publisher |
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324156/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32539930 https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56760 |
genre |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
eLife |
op_relation |
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7324156/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32539930 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56760 |
op_rights |
© 2020, Sprogis et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited. |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.56760 |
container_title |
eLife |
container_volume |
9 |
_version_ |
1766067490836709376 |