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Behavioral Responses of a Harbor Porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) Depend on the Frequency Content of Pile-Driving Sounds

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  • Ronald A. Kastelein, Sea Mammal Research Company (SEAMARCO)
  • ,
  • Christ A.F. de Jong, TNO
  • ,
  • Jakob Tougaard
  • Lean Helder-Hoek, Sea Mammal Research Company (SEAMARCO)
  • ,
  • Linde N. Defillet, Sea Mammal Research Company (SEAMARCO)

The loud, impulsive, broadband underwater sounds produced during offshore pile driving are known to have auditory and behavioral effects on harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in the areas around piling sites. Thresholds to prevent behavioral effects have not yet been set, and it is unclear whether or not auditory frequency weighting of piling sounds, as used for criteria to protect hearing (Southall et al., 2019), is also useful for predicting behavioral responses and therefore required to set safety criteria and develop mitigation measures. A harbor porpoise in a pool was exposed to playbacks of piling sounds, and her behavioral responses were quantified in comparison to baseline periods without piling sounds. The full-spectrum playback piling sound was recorded at 100 m from a piling site for an offshore wind turbine. For comparison, five low-pass filtered (6.3, 3.2, 1.5, 1.0, and 0.5 kHz) versions of the sound in which the bandwidth decreased were played back at the same duty cycle (46 strikes/min) and similar single-strike sound exposure levels (power average in the pool: 135 dB re 1 ^Pa2s; ti»: 90 to 100 ms). As the bandwidth of the piling sounds decreased, the porpoise’s behavioral response became weaker. Although these results are based on only one porpoise, they indicate that harbor porpoises respond most strongly to the higher frequencies in piling sounds. Therefore, frequency weighting of the sound exposure level (SEL) will improve prediction of behavioral responses, and behavioral response threshold levels for criteria should also be expressed as weighted SELs. However, it is unclear whether the weighting for predicting auditory effects is also the best weighting to predict behavioral effects. Mitigation of the effects of piling sounds on harbor porpoise behavior should be focused on reducing the high-frequency part of the spectrum.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftAquatic Mammals
Vol/bind48
Nummer2
Sider (fra-til)97-109
Antal sider13
ISSN0167-5427
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2022

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
Ainslie, M. A. (2010). Principles of sonar performance modelling. Springer Praxis. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87662-5 Bailey, H., Senior, B., Simmons, D., Rusin, J., Picken, G., & Thompson, P. M. (2010). Assessing underwater noise levels during pile-driving at an offshore windfarm and its potential effects on marine mammals. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 60, 888-897. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol-bul.2010.01.003 Bellmann, M. A., Brinkmann, J., May, A., Wendt, T., Gerlach, S., & Remmers, P. (2020). Underwater noise during the impulse pile-driving procedure: Influencing factors on pile-driving noise and technical possibili-ties to comply with noise mitigation values. Supported by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und nukleare Sicherheit [BMU]), FKZ UM16 881500. Commissioned and man-aged by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie [BSH]), Order No. 10036866.

Funding Information:
We thank assistant Suzanne Cornelisse and the following students and volunteers for their help with the study: Matthijs Marsman, Luna Korsuize, Femke Kuiphof, Pepijn Degger, Stephanie de Ruijter, Manouk Vermeulen, Ramona van Alphen, Irna Huisjes, Yarnick Herben, and Renee de Waard. We thank Rob Triesscheijn (†) for making Figure 1, and Bert Meijering (Topsy Baits) for providing space for the SEAMARCO Research Institute. Erwin Jansen (TNO) did the acoustic measurements. We thank Arie Smink for the construction and maintenance of the electronic equipment. We also thank Nancy Jennings (Dotmoth.co.uk) for the statistical analysis and comments on the manuscript, and John Terhune (University of New Brunswick, Canada) and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable constructive comments on this manuscript. Funding for this project was obtained from (1) the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Case Number 31160611)—we thank Inger van den Bosch, Sarah Marx, Ingeborg van Splunder, and Niels Kinneging for their guidance on behalf of the Dutch Wind at Sea Ecological Program (WOZEP); and (2) Eneco (Order Number 4500730976/2142)—we thank Marin van Regteren for her guidance on behalf of Eneco. The harbor porpoise was tested under authorization of the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs with Endangered Species Permit FF/75A/2016/031. The porpoise was rented from Dolfinarium Harderwijk (part of the ASPRO group).

Funding Information:
We thank assistant Suzanne Cornelisse and the following students and volunteers for their help with the study: Matthijs Marsman, Luna Korsuize, Femke Kuiphof, Pepijn Degger, Stephanie de Ruijter, Manouk Vermeulen, Ramona van Alphen, Irna Huisjes, Yarnick Herben, and Renee de Waard. We thank Rob Triesscheijn (f) for making Figure 1, and Bert Meijering (Topsy Baits) for providing space for the SEAMARCO Research Institute. Erwin Jansen (TNO) did the acoustic measurements. We thank Arie Smink for the construction and maintenance of the electronic equipment. We also thank Nancy Jennings (Dotmoth.co.uk) for the statistical analysis and comments on the manuscript, and John Terhune (University of New Brunswick, Canada) and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable constructive comments on this manuscript. Funding for this project was obtained from (1) the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Case Number 31160611)?we thank Inger van den Bosch, Sarah Marx, Ingeborg van Splunder, and Niels Kinneging for their guidance on behalf of the Dutch Wind at Sea Ecological Program (WOZEP); and (2) Eneco (Order Number 4500730976/2142)?we thank Marin van Regteren for her guidance on behalf of Eneco. The harbor porpoise was tested under authorization of the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs with Endangered Species Permit FF/75A/2016/031. The porpoise was rented from Dolfinarium Harderwijk (part of the ASPRO group).

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