Behavioral avoidance threshold level of a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) for a continuous 50 kHz pure tone (L)

Behavioral avoidance threshold level of a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) for a continuous 50 kHz pure tone (L)

Kastelein, R.A.
Verboom, W.C.
Jennings, N.
de Haan, D.
TNO Defensie en Veiligheid

2008

The use of ultrasonic sounds in alarms for gillnets may be advantageous, but the deterring effects of ultrasound on porpoises are not well understood. Therefore a harbor porpoise in a large floating pen was subjected to a continuous 50 kHz pure tone with a source level of 122 +/- 3dB (re 1uPa, rms). When the test signal was switched on during test periods, the animal moved away from the sound source. Its respiration rate was similar to that during baseline periods, when the sound was switched off. The behavior of the porpoise was related to the sound pressure level distribution in the pen. The sound level at the animal’s average swimming location during the test periods was approximately 107 +/- 3dB (re 1uPa, rms). The avoidance threshold sound pressure level for a continuous 50 kHz pure tone for this porpoise, in the context of this study, is estimated to be 108 +/- 3dB (re 1uPa, rms). This study demonstrates that porpoises may be deterred from an area by high frequency sounds that are not typically audible to fish and pinnipeds and would be less likely masked by ambient noise.

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:563af096-8b37-4c37-9cf7-f0b182f1e2f0

https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2874557

221427

Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 123 (6), 1858-1861

article