Recovery of Barotrauma Injuries Resulting from Exposure to Pile Driving Sound in Two Sizes of Hybrid Striped Bass

Abstract

The effects of loud sounds on fishes, such as those produced during impulsive pile driving, are an increasing concern in the management of aquatic ecosystems. However, very little is known about such effects. Accordingly, a High Intensity Controlled Impedance Fluid Filled wave Tube (HICI-FT) was used to investigate the effects of sounds produced by impulsive pile driving on two size groups of hybrid striped bass (white bass Morone chrysops x striped bass Morone saxatilis ). The larger striped bass (mean size 17.2 g) had more severe injuries, as well as more total injuries, than the smaller fish (mean size 1.3 g). However, fish in each size group recovered from most injuries within 10 days of exposure. A comparison with different species from previously published studies show that current results support the observation that fishes with physoclistous swim bladders are more susceptible to injury from impulsive pile driving than are fishes with physostomous swim bladders.

An overview of fish bioacoustics and the impacts of anthropogenic sounds on fishes

“…In such cases, it appears that the swimbladder expands and contracts rapidly, thereby damaging the proximate organs including liver, kidney, gonads and the swimbladder itself (Halvorsen et al, ; Halvorsen et al, ). For example, of five species exposed to high intensity simulated pile driving signals (Casper et al, ; Halvorsen et al, ; Halvorsen et al, ), only the hogchoker Trinectes maculatus (Bloch & Schneider 1801), a flatfish without a swim bladder, showed no tissue damage (Halvorsen et al, ). At the same time, exposure to very high intensity continuous signals that did not contain any impulsive components showed no tissue damage in five different species (Halvorsen et al, ; Halvorsen et al, ; Kane et al, ; Popper et al, ).…”

“…A recent set of studies, using a pile driving sound as a stimulus, enabled investigators to quantify the physical effects of sound exposure on various tissues (Casper et al, ; Casper et al, , ; Casper et al, ; Halvorsen et al, , , ; Popper et al, ). While these results directly relate to pile driving, they are also likely to give guidance for potential effects of other impulsive sounds on fishes and so they have been incorporated into the most recent guidelines for fishes on interim sound exposure criteria (Table ; Popper et al, ; Andersson et al, ).…”

Effects of noise on fishes: What we can learn from humans and birds

“…Although there is strong evidence that very intense, and particularly impulsive, sounds can damage tissues and potentially result in mortal effects (e.g. McCauley et al ; Popper et al , ; Hastings et al ; Bolle et al ; Casper et al , , ; Halvorsen et al ,), far more fish are likely to be exposed to sounds at some distance from the source where the intensity is lower that nearer the source and any effects are likely to be behavioral rather than physical. Moreover, in addition to behavioral effects resulting from impulsive sounds, it is also highly likely that general and continuous increases in background sounds, such as those produced by shipping and wind farm operation, may have behavioral effects on fishes.…”

Power Generation Expansion Planning Including Large Scale Wind Integration: A Case Study of Oman

“…Evidence of injury from pile driving sounds in a laboratory simulated environment has been reported for several fish species [32][33][34]. Recovery tended to occur within 10 days of exposure and is unlikely to have affected the survival of the exposed animals.…”