Noise exposure from commercial shipping for the southern resident killer whale population

Cominelli, Simone; Devillers, Rodolphe; Yurk, Harald; MacGillivray, Alexander O.; McWhinnie, Lauren; Canessa, Rosaline

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.08.050

Cited by 37 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 89 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Low-frequency energy from commercial ships is the principal source of ambient noise below 1 kHz within the deep ocean (Wenz, 1962;Urick, 1984; National Research Council of the U. S. National Academies [NRC], 2003), and noise in the low frequency bands dominates the broadband spectrum of ambient noise in the Salish Sea (Bassett et al, 2012;Cominelli et al, 2018). Motivated by an interest in better understanding and reducing the effects of commercial vessel traffic in SRKW critical habitat, this study was proposed by an industry-led multi-stakeholder initiative of the ECHO program of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.…”

Section: Trial Vessel Speed (Ais) Reported Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Benefits of Vessel Slowdowns on Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales

Joy

Tollit²,

Wood³

et al. 2019

Front. Mar. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A voluntary commercial vessel slowdown trial was conducted through 16 nm of shipping lanes overlapping critical habitat of at-risk southern resident killer whales (SRKW) in the Salish Sea. From August 7 to October 6, 2017, the trial requested piloted vessels to slow to 11 knots speed-through-water. Analysis of AIS vessel tracking data showed that 350 of 951 (37%) piloted transits achieved this target speed, 421 of 951 (44%) transits achieved speeds within one knot of this target (i.e., ≤12 knots), and 55% achieved speeds ≤ 13 knots. Slowdown results were compared to 'Baseline' noise of the same region, matched across lunar months. A local hydrophone listening station in Lime Kiln State Park, 2.3 km from the shipping lane, recorded 1.2 dB reductions in median broadband noise (10-100,000 Hz, rms) compared to the Baseline period, despite longer transit. The median reduction was 2.5 dB when filtering only for periods when commercial vessels were within 6 km radius of Lime Kiln. The reductions were highest in the 1st decade band (−3.1 dB, 10-100 Hz) and lowest in the 4th decade band (−0.3 dB reduction, 10-100 kHz). A regional vessel noise model predicted noise for a range of traffic volume and vessel speed scenarios for a 1133 km 2 'Slowdown region' containing the 16 nm of shipping lanes. A temporally and spatially explicit simulation model evaluated the changes in traffic volume and speed on SRKW in their foraging habitat within this Slowdown region. The model tracked the number and magnitude of noise-exposure events that impacted each of 78 (simulated) SRKW across different traffic scenarios. These disturbance metrics were simplified to a cumulative effect termed 'potential lost foraging time' that corresponded to the sum of disturbance events described by assumptions of time that whales could not forage due to noise disturbance. The model predicted that the voluntary Slowdown trial achieved 22% reduction in 'potential lost foraging time' for SRKW, with 40% reductions under 100% 11-knot participation. Slower vessel speeds reduced underwater noise in the Slowdown area despite longer passage times and therefore suggest this is an effective way to benefit SRKW habitat function in the vicinity of shipping lanes.

show abstract

Section: Trial Vessel Speed (Ais) Reported Participationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Benefits of Vessel Slowdowns on Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales

Joy

Tollit²,

Wood³

et al. 2019

Front. Mar. Sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Rising underwater noise levels in coastal environments due to small boats has become of substantial concern due to growing evidence of both lethal and sublethal impacts on marine life (Hawkins & Popper, 2014; Hermannsen et al, 2019; Jones, 2019; Popper & Hawkins, 2019). This is particularly relevant in highly productive waters that are near major port‐cities, such as the Salish Sea near Vancouver (Cominelli et al, 2018; Joy et al, 2019), the Pearl River Estuary near Hong Kong (Pine et al, 2017; Sims et al, 2012) and the Hauraki Gulf near Auckland (Pine et al, 2016; Putland et al, 2018). A common threat facing these productive waters is increasing levels of vessel noise from an increasing volume of commercial and recreational marine traffic (Dolman & Jasny, 2015; Farcas et al, 2020; Hildebrand, 2009; Luís et al, 2014; McWhinnie et al, 2017; Pine et al, 2016; Simmonds et al, 2014; Weilgart, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Gulf in lockdown: How an enforced ban on recreational vessels increased dolphin and fish communication ranges

Pine

Wilson

Jeffs

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

From midnight of 26 March 2020, New Zealand became one of the first countries to enter a strict lockdown to combat the spread of COVID‐19. The lockdown banned all non‐essential services and travel both on land and sea. Overnight, the country's busiest coastal waterway, the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, became devoid of almost all recreational and non‐essential commercial vessels. An almost instant change in the marine soundscape ensued, with ambient sound levels in busy channels dropping nearly threefold the first 12 h. This sudden drop led fish and dolphins to experience an immediate increase in their communication ranges by up to an estimated 65%. Very low vessel activity during the lockdown (indicated by the presence of vessel noise over the day) revealed new insights into cumulative noise effects from vessels on auditory masking. For example, at sites nearer Auckland City, communication ranges increased approximately 18 m (22%) or 50 m (11%) for every 10% decrease in vessel activity for fish and dolphins, respectively. However, further from the city and in deeper water, these communication ranges were increased by approximately 13 m (31%) or 510 m (20%). These new data demonstrate how noise from small vessels can impact underwater soundscapes and how marine animals will have to adapt to ever‐growing noise pollution.

show abstract

“…Changes in behavior (i.e., less foraging and increased surface-active behavior), respiration, and swim speed and direction occurred at received levels above 130 dB re 1 µPa rms (0.01-50 kHz), and the Lombard effect (i.e., increased source level and vocalization duration) has been reported in ship noise levels above 98 dB re 1 µPa rms (1-40 kHz) (Foote et al, 2004;Holt et al, 2009Holt et al, , 2011Lusseau et al, 2009;Noren et al, 2009;Williams et al, 2002Williams et al, , 2014. This geographic area has seen a lot of ship noise recording, quantification, and impact modeling studies (e.g., Erbe, 2002;Erbe et al, 2012Erbe et al, , 2014Williams et al, 2015;Cominelli et al, 2018;Joy et al, 2019).…”

Section: Odontocetesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Ship Noise on Marine Mammals—A Review

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The number of marine watercraft is on the rise-from private boats in coastal areas to commercial ships crossing oceans. A concomitant increase in underwater noise has been reported in several regions around the globe. Given the important role sound plays in the life functions of marine mammals, research on the potential effects of vessel noise has grown-in particular since the year 2000. We provide an overview of this literature, showing that studies have been patchy in terms of their coverage of species, habitats, vessel types, and types of impact investigated. The documented effects include behavioral and acoustic responses, auditory masking, and stress. We identify knowledge gaps: There appears a bias to more easily accessible species (i.e., bottlenose dolphins and humpback whales), whereas there is a paucity of literature addressing vessel noise impacts on river dolphins, even though some of these species experience chronic noise from boats. Similarly, little is known about the potential effects of ship noise on pelagic and deep-diving marine mammals, even though ship noise is focused in a downward direction, reaching great depth at little acoustic loss and potentially coupling into sound propagation channels in which sound may transmit over long ranges. We explain the fundamental concepts involved in the generation and propagation of vessel noise and point out common problems with both physics and biology: Recordings of ship noise might be affected by unidentified artifacts, and noise exposure can be both under-and over-estimated by tens of decibel if the local sound propagation conditions are not considered. The lack of anthropogenic (e.g., different vessel types), environmental (e.g., different sea states or presence/absence of prey), and biological (e.g., different demographics) controls is a common problem, as is a lack of understanding what constitutes the 'normal' range of behaviors. Last but not least, the biological significance of observed responses is mostly unknown. Moving forward, standards on study design, data analysis, and reporting are badly needed so that results are comparable (across space and time) and so that data can be synthesized to address the grand unknowns: the role of context and the consequences of chronic exposures.

show abstract

Noise exposure from commercial shipping for the southern resident killer whale population

Cited by 37 publications

References 89 publications

Potential Benefits of Vessel Slowdowns on Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales

Potential Benefits of Vessel Slowdowns on Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales

A Gulf in lockdown: How an enforced ban on recreational vessels increased dolphin and fish communication ranges

The Effects of Ship Noise on Marine Mammals—A Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About