Impact of noise pollution on a marine invertebrate, the pacific oyster Magallana gigas : ecophysiological, ecotoxicological and ethological study in the laboratory and in the field

• Main Author: Charifi, Mohcine
• Other Authors: Bordeaux, Massabuau, Jean Charles
• Format: Thesis
• Language: French
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Magallana gigas; Crassostrea gigas; Bivalve; Mollusque; Pollution sonore; Port; Bioacoustique; Ventilation; Croissance; Mollusc; Noise pollution; Harbor; Bioacoustics; Growth; envir; geo; Pacific; Pacific oyster
• Online Access: http://www.theses.fr/2018BORD0154/document

Human activities introduce multiple harmful pressures on the marine ecosystem. Chemical pollution, climate change, acidification risk, plastic debris and radioactive wastes have significant effects on marine wildlife. Noise pollution is now recognized as a major source of pollution at sea. Seismic exploration, pile driving and marine traffic, among other activities, generate noise at high sound pressure levels altering the underwater acoustic landscape. Many marine mammals and fish hear the noise generated by these activities which have the potential to alter their physiology and ethology. However, very few studies among marine invertebrates had assessed their ability to hear and the impact of noise pollution on them has yet to be determined. We approached the problem by studying sound perception ability in the pacific oyster Magallana gigas using behavioural and physiological techniques. We have shown that M. gigas is sensitive to sound in the frequency range from 10 to 1000 Hz. This characterization allowed us to define sound sources that contribute to their sound landscape. In the laboratory, in an environment contaminated with (i) cadmium, a metal that we considered to be both a toxic agent and an indirect marker of ventilatory activity, and (ii) cargo ship noise, we showed a depressant or repressant effect of noise characterized by a decrease in valve activity, ventilatory activity and growth rate. We also report a decrease in Cd bioaccumulation and some modulation of gene expression. Finally, we studied a 2-year behavioural record performed in the commercial port of Santander (including spawning events and growth) on 3 groups of oysters exposed to high noise pressure levels. In the port of Santander, the "water quality" is otherwise considered by the literature as good to very good for a heavily modified water body. We found in these records different changes that we previously induced and/or produced in the laboratory. We conclude that the noise pollution load occurring within a commercial port must ...