Marine mammal acoustic detections in the Greenland and Barents Sea, 2013 – 2014 seasons

• Published in: Scientific Reports
• Main Authors: Vreese, Steffen de, Van der Schaar, Mike Connor Roger Malcolm, Weissenberger, Jürgen, Erbs, Florence Amandine, Kosecka, Monika, Solé Carbonell, Marta, André, Michel
• Other Authors: Centre Tecnològic de Vilanova i la Geltrú, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. LAB - Laboratori d'Aplicacions Bioacústiques
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Nature 2018
• Subjects: Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Física::Acústica::Sons subaquàtics; Underwater acoustics; Climatic changes; Cetacea; Biotic communities; Acústica submarina; Cetacis; Canvis climàtics; Ecosistemes; Biodiversitat marina; Barents Sea; Climate change; Greenland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2117/127604; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-34624-z

While the Greenland and Barents Seas are known habitats for several cetacean and pinniped species there is a lack of long-term monitoring data in this rapidly changing environment. Moreover, little is known of the ambient soundscapes, and increasing of-shore anthropogenic activities can infuence the ecosystem and marine life. Baseline acoustic data is needed to better assess current and future soundscape and ecosystem conditions. The analysis of a year of continuous data from three passive acoustic monitoring devices revealed species-dependent seasonal and spatial variation of a large variety of marine mammals in the Greenland and Barents Seas. Sampling rates were 39 and 78kHz in the respective locations, and all systems were operational at a duty cycle of 2min on, 30min of. The research presents a description of cetacean and pinniped acoustic detections along with a variety of unknown low-frequency tonal sounds, and ambient sound level measurements that fall within the scope of the European Marine Strategy Framework (MSFD). The presented data shows the importance of monitoring Arctic underwater biodiversity for assessing the ecological changes under the scope of climate change Peer Reviewed Postprint (published version)