Development of a model to assess masking potential for marine mammals by the use of air guns in Antarctic waters:

• Main Authors: Wittekind, D., Tougaard, J., Stilz, P., Dähne, M., Clark, C.W., Lucke, K., Benda-Beckmann, A.M. von, Ainslie, M.A., Siebert, U.
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: New York: Springer 2016
• Subjects: Biology; Mysticetes; Pinnipeds; Seismic; Air guns; Antarctica; Frequency modulation; Marine mammals; Masking; Noise pollution; Process development; Sensory nerve conduction; Signal noise ratio; Sound analysis; Sound intensity; Sound propagation modeling; Vocalization; Waveform; Defence Research; Defence; Safety and Security; Observation; Weapon & Protection Systems; AS - Acoustics & Sonar; TS - Technical Sciences; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b85fa7c4-95a4-411f-a434-851a8fc682b4

We estimated the long-range effects of air gun array noise on marine mammal communication ranges in the Southern Ocean. Air gun impulses are subject to significant distortion during propagation, potentially resulting in a quasi- continuous sound. Propagation modeling to estimate the received waveform was conducted. A leaky integrator was used as a hearing model to assess communication masking in three species due to intermittent/continuous air gun sounds. Air gun noise is most probably changing from impulse to continuous noise between 1,000 and 2,000 km from the source, leading to a reduced communication range for, e.g., blue and fin whales up to 2,000 km from the source. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016.