Effects of airgun discharges used in seismic surveys on development and mortality in nauplii of the copepod Acartia tonsa

Emilie Hernes Vereide; Marina Mihaljevic; Howard I. Browman; David M. Fields; Mette Dalgaard Agersted; Josefin Titelman; Karen de Jong

doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121469

Effects of airgun discharges used in seismic surveys on development and mortality in nauplii of the copepod Acartia tonsa

Emilie Hernes Vereide^*, Marina Mihaljevic, Howard I. Browman, David M. Fields, Mette Dalgaard Agersted, Josefin Titelman, Karen de Jong

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Ecoscience - Arctic Environment

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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Abstract

Seismic surveys are conducted worldwide to explore for oil and gas deposits and to map subsea formations. The airguns used in these surveys emit low-frequency sound waves. Studies on zooplankton responses to airguns report a range of effects, from none to substantial mortality. A field experiment was conducted to assess mortality and naupliar body length of the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa when exposed to the discharge of two 40-inch airguns. Nauplii were placed in plastic bags and attached to a line at a depth of 6 m. For each treatment, three bags of nauplii were exposed to one of three treatments for 2.5 h: Airgun array discharge, a boat control, or a silent control. After exposure, nauplii were kept in filtered seawater in the laboratory without food. Immediate mortality in the nauplii was approximately 14% compared to less than 4% in the silent and boat control. Similarly, there was higher mortality in the airgun exposed nauplii up to six days after exposure compared to the control treatments. Nearly all of the airgun exposed nauplii were dead after four days, while >50% of the nauplii in the control treatments were alive at six days post-exposure. There was an interaction between treatment and time on naupliar body length, indicating lower growth in the nauplii exposed to the airgun discharge (growth rates after 4 days: 1.7, 5.4, and 6.1 μm d⁻¹ in the airgun exposed, silent control, and boat control, respectively). These experiments indicate that the output of two small airguns affected mortality and growth of the naupliar stages of Acartia tonsa in close vicinity to the array.

Original language	English
Article number	121469
Journal	Environmental Pollution
Volume	327
ISSN	0269-7491
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121469
Publication status	Published - 15 Jun 2023

Keywords

Acartia
Anthropogenic noise
Copepods
Noise pollution
Seismic surveys
Zooplankton

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1-s2.0-S0269749123004712-mainFinal published version, 2.77 MBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Effects of airgun discharges used in seismic surveys on development and mortality in nauplii of the copepod Acartia tonsa",

abstract = "Seismic surveys are conducted worldwide to explore for oil and gas deposits and to map subsea formations. The airguns used in these surveys emit low-frequency sound waves. Studies on zooplankton responses to airguns report a range of effects, from none to substantial mortality. A field experiment was conducted to assess mortality and naupliar body length of the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa when exposed to the discharge of two 40-inch airguns. Nauplii were placed in plastic bags and attached to a line at a depth of 6 m. For each treatment, three bags of nauplii were exposed to one of three treatments for 2.5 h: Airgun array discharge, a boat control, or a silent control. After exposure, nauplii were kept in filtered seawater in the laboratory without food. Immediate mortality in the nauplii was approximately 14% compared to less than 4% in the silent and boat control. Similarly, there was higher mortality in the airgun exposed nauplii up to six days after exposure compared to the control treatments. Nearly all of the airgun exposed nauplii were dead after four days, while >50% of the nauplii in the control treatments were alive at six days post-exposure. There was an interaction between treatment and time on naupliar body length, indicating lower growth in the nauplii exposed to the airgun discharge (growth rates after 4 days: 1.7, 5.4, and 6.1 μm d−1 in the airgun exposed, silent control, and boat control, respectively). These experiments indicate that the output of two small airguns affected mortality and growth of the naupliar stages of Acartia tonsa in close vicinity to the array.",

keywords = "Acartia, Anthropogenic noise, Copepods, Noise pollution, Seismic surveys, Zooplankton",

author = "Vereide, {Emilie Hernes} and Marina Mihaljevic and Browman, {Howard I.} and Fields, {David M.} and Agersted, {Mette Dalgaard} and Josefin Titelman and {de Jong}, Karen",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors",

year = "2023",

month = jun,

day = "15",

doi = "10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121469",

language = "English",

volume = "327",

journal = "Environmental Pollution",

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Effects of airgun discharges used in seismic surveys on development and mortality in nauplii of the copepod Acartia tonsa. / Vereide, Emilie Hernes; Mihaljevic, Marina; Browman, Howard I. et al.
In: Environmental Pollution, Vol. 327, 121469, 15.06.2023.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Effects of airgun discharges used in seismic surveys on development and mortality in nauplii of the copepod Acartia tonsa

AU - Vereide, Emilie Hernes

AU - Mihaljevic, Marina

AU - Browman, Howard I.

AU - Fields, David M.

AU - Agersted, Mette Dalgaard

AU - Titelman, Josefin

AU - de Jong, Karen

PY - 2023/6/15

Y1 - 2023/6/15

N2 - Seismic surveys are conducted worldwide to explore for oil and gas deposits and to map subsea formations. The airguns used in these surveys emit low-frequency sound waves. Studies on zooplankton responses to airguns report a range of effects, from none to substantial mortality. A field experiment was conducted to assess mortality and naupliar body length of the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa when exposed to the discharge of two 40-inch airguns. Nauplii were placed in plastic bags and attached to a line at a depth of 6 m. For each treatment, three bags of nauplii were exposed to one of three treatments for 2.5 h: Airgun array discharge, a boat control, or a silent control. After exposure, nauplii were kept in filtered seawater in the laboratory without food. Immediate mortality in the nauplii was approximately 14% compared to less than 4% in the silent and boat control. Similarly, there was higher mortality in the airgun exposed nauplii up to six days after exposure compared to the control treatments. Nearly all of the airgun exposed nauplii were dead after four days, while >50% of the nauplii in the control treatments were alive at six days post-exposure. There was an interaction between treatment and time on naupliar body length, indicating lower growth in the nauplii exposed to the airgun discharge (growth rates after 4 days: 1.7, 5.4, and 6.1 μm d−1 in the airgun exposed, silent control, and boat control, respectively). These experiments indicate that the output of two small airguns affected mortality and growth of the naupliar stages of Acartia tonsa in close vicinity to the array.

AB - Seismic surveys are conducted worldwide to explore for oil and gas deposits and to map subsea formations. The airguns used in these surveys emit low-frequency sound waves. Studies on zooplankton responses to airguns report a range of effects, from none to substantial mortality. A field experiment was conducted to assess mortality and naupliar body length of the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa when exposed to the discharge of two 40-inch airguns. Nauplii were placed in plastic bags and attached to a line at a depth of 6 m. For each treatment, three bags of nauplii were exposed to one of three treatments for 2.5 h: Airgun array discharge, a boat control, or a silent control. After exposure, nauplii were kept in filtered seawater in the laboratory without food. Immediate mortality in the nauplii was approximately 14% compared to less than 4% in the silent and boat control. Similarly, there was higher mortality in the airgun exposed nauplii up to six days after exposure compared to the control treatments. Nearly all of the airgun exposed nauplii were dead after four days, while >50% of the nauplii in the control treatments were alive at six days post-exposure. There was an interaction between treatment and time on naupliar body length, indicating lower growth in the nauplii exposed to the airgun discharge (growth rates after 4 days: 1.7, 5.4, and 6.1 μm d−1 in the airgun exposed, silent control, and boat control, respectively). These experiments indicate that the output of two small airguns affected mortality and growth of the naupliar stages of Acartia tonsa in close vicinity to the array.

KW - Acartia

KW - Anthropogenic noise

KW - Copepods

KW - Noise pollution

KW - Seismic surveys

KW - Zooplankton

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DO - 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121469

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36963455

AN - SCOPUS:85151267473

SN - 0269-7491

VL - 327

JO - Environmental Pollution

JF - Environmental Pollution

M1 - 121469

ER -

Effects of airgun discharges used in seismic surveys on development and mortality in nauplii of the copepod Acartia tonsa

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