Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) singing activity at Caño Island Biological Reserve, Costa Rica before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdowns
Introduction: Boat traffic is recognized as a major contributor of underwater noise. Increasing presence of boats in coastal habitats is predicted to have important repercussions on the communication of marine mammals. In Costa Rica, the waters of the Caño Island Biological Reserve are an important...
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ftucostaricaojs:oai:portal.ucr.ac.cr:article/57280 2023-11-12T04:20:53+01:00 Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) singing activity at Caño Island Biological Reserve, Costa Rica before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdowns Actividad de canto de las ballenas jorobadas (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) del hemisferio sur en la Reserva Biológica de la Isla del Caño, Costa Rica, antes, durante y después de los cierres asociados a la pandemia de COVID-19 May-Collado, Laura J. Bottoms, Sawyer Durant, Grace Palacios-Alfaro, Jose David Alvarado, Juan Jose 2023-10-30 application/pdf text/html application/epub+zip https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57280 https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop.v71iS4.57280 eng eng Universidad de Costa Rica https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57280/57812 https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57280/57813 https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57280/57814 https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57280 doi:10.15517/rev.biol.trop.v71iS4.57280 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Revista de Biología Tropical; Vol. 71 No. S4 (2023): Aquatic Mammals of Central América; e57280 Revista de Biología Tropical; Vol. 71 Núm. S4 (2023): Mamíferos acuáticos de Centroamérica; e57280 Revista Biología Tropical; Vol. 71 N.º S4 (2023): Mamíferos acuáticos de Centroamérica; e57280 2215-2075 0034-7744 10.15517/rev.biol.trop.v71iS4.2023 ambient noise levels boat traffic whale-watching tourism bioacoustics ruido ambiental tráfico de botes observación de ballenas turismo bioacoustica info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Article 2023 ftucostaricaojs https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.5728010.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.2023 2023-11-02T00:40:49Z Introduction: Boat traffic is recognized as a major contributor of underwater noise. Increasing presence of boats in coastal habitats is predicted to have important repercussions on the communication of marine mammals. In Costa Rica, the waters of the Caño Island Biological Reserve are an important breeding area for humpback whales from the Breeding-Stock G (BSG). Their predicted and abundant presence has fueled the development of whale watching activities as an important component of the local economy, and while the country has norms of conduct for this activity, whales often interact with multiple boats at the same time. The lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to study the potential impacts of noise associated with boat traffic on the singing activity of humpback whales. Objective: Determine whether noise levels and boat acoustic presence around Caño Island Biological Reserve changed during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and if it did, what is the impact on song detection of BSG humpback whales. Methods: Acoustic recordings were made using a bottom-mounted autonomous underwater recorder for 30 days in September 2019, 2020, and 2021, resulting in a total recording effort of 480 hours. Results: Our results show that broadband underwater noise levels (dBRMS) during pre-lockdown were significantly higher, particularly at frequencies below 1kHz, than during and post-lockdown. This is likely due to a decrease in the proportion of boat acoustic presence during the lockdown. Although the proportion of whale songs detected did not vary among years, whale songs were detected similarly throughout the day during the lockdown, compared to pre-and-post lockdown where the proportion of whale song presence decreased during hours when more boats were present. Conclusions: This study shows a clear change in underwater noise levels during the COVID-19 lockdown, likely due to a decrease in boat presence. The study also highlights the potential impact of noise associated with boat traffic on ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Megaptera novaeangliae Portal de revistas académicas de la Universidad de Costa Rica |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Portal de revistas académicas de la Universidad de Costa Rica |
op_collection_id |
ftucostaricaojs |
language |
English |
topic |
ambient noise levels boat traffic whale-watching tourism bioacoustics ruido ambiental tráfico de botes observación de ballenas turismo bioacoustica |
spellingShingle |
ambient noise levels boat traffic whale-watching tourism bioacoustics ruido ambiental tráfico de botes observación de ballenas turismo bioacoustica May-Collado, Laura J. Bottoms, Sawyer Durant, Grace Palacios-Alfaro, Jose David Alvarado, Juan Jose Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) singing activity at Caño Island Biological Reserve, Costa Rica before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdowns |
topic_facet |
ambient noise levels boat traffic whale-watching tourism bioacoustics ruido ambiental tráfico de botes observación de ballenas turismo bioacoustica |
description |
Introduction: Boat traffic is recognized as a major contributor of underwater noise. Increasing presence of boats in coastal habitats is predicted to have important repercussions on the communication of marine mammals. In Costa Rica, the waters of the Caño Island Biological Reserve are an important breeding area for humpback whales from the Breeding-Stock G (BSG). Their predicted and abundant presence has fueled the development of whale watching activities as an important component of the local economy, and while the country has norms of conduct for this activity, whales often interact with multiple boats at the same time. The lockdowns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to study the potential impacts of noise associated with boat traffic on the singing activity of humpback whales. Objective: Determine whether noise levels and boat acoustic presence around Caño Island Biological Reserve changed during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and if it did, what is the impact on song detection of BSG humpback whales. Methods: Acoustic recordings were made using a bottom-mounted autonomous underwater recorder for 30 days in September 2019, 2020, and 2021, resulting in a total recording effort of 480 hours. Results: Our results show that broadband underwater noise levels (dBRMS) during pre-lockdown were significantly higher, particularly at frequencies below 1kHz, than during and post-lockdown. This is likely due to a decrease in the proportion of boat acoustic presence during the lockdown. Although the proportion of whale songs detected did not vary among years, whale songs were detected similarly throughout the day during the lockdown, compared to pre-and-post lockdown where the proportion of whale song presence decreased during hours when more boats were present. Conclusions: This study shows a clear change in underwater noise levels during the COVID-19 lockdown, likely due to a decrease in boat presence. The study also highlights the potential impact of noise associated with boat traffic on ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
May-Collado, Laura J. Bottoms, Sawyer Durant, Grace Palacios-Alfaro, Jose David Alvarado, Juan Jose |
author_facet |
May-Collado, Laura J. Bottoms, Sawyer Durant, Grace Palacios-Alfaro, Jose David Alvarado, Juan Jose |
author_sort |
May-Collado, Laura J. |
title |
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) singing activity at Caño Island Biological Reserve, Costa Rica before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdowns |
title_short |
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) singing activity at Caño Island Biological Reserve, Costa Rica before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdowns |
title_full |
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) singing activity at Caño Island Biological Reserve, Costa Rica before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdowns |
title_fullStr |
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) singing activity at Caño Island Biological Reserve, Costa Rica before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdowns |
title_full_unstemmed |
Southern Hemisphere humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) (Artiodactyla: Balaenopteridae) singing activity at Caño Island Biological Reserve, Costa Rica before, during, and after COVID-19 lockdowns |
title_sort |
southern hemisphere humpback whales (megaptera novaeangliae) (artiodactyla: balaenopteridae) singing activity at caño island biological reserve, costa rica before, during, and after covid-19 lockdowns |
publisher |
Universidad de Costa Rica |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57280 https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop.v71iS4.57280 |
genre |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Revista de Biología Tropical; Vol. 71 No. S4 (2023): Aquatic Mammals of Central América; e57280 Revista de Biología Tropical; Vol. 71 Núm. S4 (2023): Mamíferos acuáticos de Centroamérica; e57280 Revista Biología Tropical; Vol. 71 N.º S4 (2023): Mamíferos acuáticos de Centroamérica; e57280 2215-2075 0034-7744 10.15517/rev.biol.trop.v71iS4.2023 |
op_relation |
https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57280/57812 https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57280/57813 https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57280/57814 https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/57280 doi:10.15517/rev.biol.trop.v71iS4.57280 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.5728010.15517/rev.biol.trop..v71iS4.2023 |
_version_ |
1782336602379386880 |