Cover of publication TEXTE 89/2021 Assessment of communication masking in Antarctic marine mammals by underwater sound from airguns
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Assessment of communication masking in Antarctic marine mammals by underwater sound from airguns


Marine mammals depend largely on their sense of hearing. Underwater noise can lead to acoustic masking of biologically important sounds. Marine airguns used for scientific studies of the seabed produce this type of sound. In this project, models were developed to assess the masking potential of airguns on blue whale, fin whale, killer whale and Weddell seal communication. The results of the models also show that seismic surveys conducted at lower latitudes (Australia) may also have masking potential in remote areas at higher latitudes (Antarctica). In the majority of the scenarios considered, however, a severe masking effect only manifests at distances of up to 200 km.

Series
Texte | 89/2021
Number of pages
208
Year of publication
Author(s)
Dr. Benno Wölfing, Prof. Dr. Marianne Rasmussen, Dr. Tobias Schaffeld, Dr. Joseph Schnitzler, Prof. Prof. h. c. Dr. Ursula Siebert, Dr. Peter Stilz, Prof. Dr. Alexander Gavrilov, Prof. Dr. Christine Erbe, Prof. Dr. Robert McCauley, Prof. Dr. Magnus Wahlberg, Matthias Fischer, Max Schuster, Dr. Dietrich Wittekind
Language
English
Project No. (FKZ)
3714 19 101 0
Publisher
Umweltbundesamt
Additional information
PDF is accessible
File size
13697 KB
Price
0,00 €
Print version
not available
rated as helpful
37
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Tags:
 underwater sound  Airguns  sound propagation  masking model  marine mammals  whales  seals  Antarctic