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Modeling potential masking of echolocating sperm whales exposed to continuous 1–2 kHz naval sonar

von Benda-Beckman, A.M. (author), Isojunno, S. (author), Zandvliet, M. (author), Ainlsie, M. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

Modern active sonar systems can (almost) continuously transmit and receive sound, which can lead to more masking of important sounds for marine mammals than conventional pulsed sonar systems transmitting at a much lower duty cycle. This study investigated the potential of 1–2 kHz active sonar to mask echolocation-based foraging of sperm whales...

article 2021

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Sperm whales exhibit variation in echolocation tactics with depth and sea state but not naval sonar exposures

Isojunno, S. (author), von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Kvadsheim. P.H., (author), Frans-Peter A. Lam, (author), Gkikopoulou, K.C. (author), Pöyhönen, V. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Benti, B. (author), Foskolos, I. (author), Bort, J. (author), Miguel Neves, M. (author), Biassoni, N. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

Auditory masking by anthropogenic noise may impact marine mammals relying on sound for important life functions, including echolocation. Animals have evolved antimasking strategies, but they may not be completely effective or cost-free. We formulated seven a priori hypotheses on how odontocete echolocation behavior could indicate masking. We...

article 2021

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When the noise goes on: Received sound energy predicts sperm whale responses to both intermittent and continuous navy sonar

Isojunno, S. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Lopez, L.M. Martín (author), Kleivane, L. (author), Siegal, E.M. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

Anthropogenic noise sources range from intermittent to continuous, with seismic and navy sonar technology moving towards nearcontinuous transmissions. Continuous active sonar (CAS) may be used at a lower amplitude than traditional pulsed active sonar (PAS), but potentially with greater cumulative sound energy. We conducted at-sea experiments to...

article 2020

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Predicting acoustic dose associated with marine mammal behavioural responses to sound as detected with fixed acoustic recorders and satellite tags

von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Prior, M. (author), Ainslie, M.A. (author), Hansen, R.R. (author), Isojunno, S. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

To understand the consequences of underwater noise exposure for cetaceans, there is a need for assessments of behavioural responses over increased spatial and temporal scales. Bottom-moored acoustic recorders and satellite tags provide such long-term and large spatial coverage of behaviour compared to short-duration acoustic-recording tags....

article 2019

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Northern bottlenose whales in a pristine environment respond strongly to close and distant navy sonar signals

Wensveen, P.J. (author), Isojunno, S. (author), Hansen, R.R. (author), von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Kleivane, L. (author), van IJsselmuide, S. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), DeRuiter, S.L. (author), Curé, C. (author), Narazaki, T. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

Impact assessments for sonar operations typically use received sound levels to predict behavioural disturbance in marine mammals. However, there are indications that cetaceans may learn to associate exposures from distant sound sources with lower perceived risk. To investigate the roles of source distance and received level in an area without...

article 2019

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Behavioral response study on the effects of continuous sonar on sperm whales in Norwegian waters: The S3-2016-CAS cruise report

Lam, F.P. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Isojunno, S. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), van IJsselmuide, S. (author), Siemensma, M. (author), Dekeling, R. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

There has been a significant increase of underwater anthropogenic noise in recent decades, leading to increased background noise levels and more frequent exposure of marine animals to high intensity impulse sounds such as seismic signals and naval sonar. Modern long range anti-submarine warfare surveillance sonars transmit very powerful sound...

report 2018

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Behavioral response study on the effects of continuous sonar and the effects of source proximity on sperm Whales in Norwegian waters: The S3-2017-CAS cruise report

Lam, F.P. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Isojunno, S. (author), van IJsselmuide, S. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Hansen, R.R. (author), Siemensma, M. (author), Sivle, L.D. (author), Kleivane, L. (author), López, L.M.M. (author), Benti, B. (author), Dekeling, R. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

Modern long range anti-submarine warfare sonars transmit powerful sound pulses which might have a negative impact on marine mammals. Behavioral response studies (BRS) conducted by research groups in the US (the AUTEC project 2006-2009 (Tyack et al. 2011) and the SOCAL project 2010-2016 (Southall et al. 2012)) and in Norway (the Sea Mammals and...

report 2018

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Lack of behavioural responses of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) indicate limited effectiveness of sonar mitigation

Wensveen, P.J. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Sivle, L.D. (author), Visser, F. (author), Cure, C. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

Exposure to underwater sound can cause permanent hearing loss and other physiological effects in marine animals. To reduce this risk, naval sonars are sometimes gradually increased in intensity at the start of transmission ('ramp-up'). Here, we conducted experiments in which tagged humpback whales were approached with a ship to test whether a...

article 2017

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Assessing the effectiveness of ramp-up during sonar operations using exposure models

von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Ainslie, M.A. (author)

Ramp-up procedures are used to mitigate the impact of sound on marine mammals. Sound exposure models combined with observations of marine mammals responding to sound can be used to assess the effectiveness of ramp-up procedures. We found that ramp-up procedures before full-level sonar operations can reduce the risk of hearing threshold shifts...

bookPart 2016

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Sperm whales reduce foraging effort during exposure to 1-2 kHz sonar and killer whale sounds.

Isojunno, S. (author), Curé, C. (author), Helgevold Kvadsheim, P. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Miller, P.J.O (author)

Abstract . The time and energetic costs of behavioral responses to incidental and experimental sonar exposures, as well as control stimuli, were quantifi ed using hidden state analysis of time series of acoustic and movement data recorded by tags ( DTAG ) attached to 12 sperm whales ( Physeter macrocephalus ) using suction cups. Behavioral state...

article 2016

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Naval sonar disrupts foraging in humpback whales

Sivle, L.D. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Visser, F. (author), Curé, C. (author), Harris, C.M. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

Modern long-range naval sonars are a potential disturbance for marine mammals and can cause disruption of feeding in cetaceans. We examined the lunge-feeding behaviour of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae before, during and after controlled exposure experiments with naval sonar by use of acoustic and motion sensor archival tags attached to...

article 2016

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Separating underwater ambient noise from flow noise recorded on stereo acoustic tags attached to marine mammals

von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Samarra, F.I.P. (author), Beerens, S.P. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

Sound-recording acoustic tags attached to marine animals are commonly used in behavioural studies. Measuring ambient noise is of interest to efforts to understand responses of marine mammals to anthropogenic underwater sound, or to assess their communication space. Noise of water flowing around the tag reflects the speed of the animal, but...

article 2016

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Biological significance of sperm whale responses to sonar: Comparison with anti-predator responses

Curé, C. (author), Isojunno, S. (author), Visser, F. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Sivle, L.D. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Lam, F.A. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

A key issue when investigating effects of anthropogenic noise on cetacean behavior is to identify the biological significance of the responses. Predator presence can be considered a natural high-level disturbance stimulus to which prey animals have evolved adaptive response strategies to reduce their risk of predation by altering behavior away...

article 2016

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Controlled sonar exposure experiments on cetaceans in norwegian waters Overview of the 3s-project

Lam, F.P. (author), Kleivane, L. (author), Sivle, L.D. (author), van Ijsselmuide, S.P. (author), Visser, F. (author), von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Dekeling, R.P.A. (author)

bookPart 2016

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How effectively do horizontal and vertical response strategies of longfinned pilot whales reduce sound exposure from naval sonar?

Wensveen, P.J. (author), von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Ainslie, M.A. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

The behaviour of a marine mammal near a noise source can modulate the sound exposure it receives.We demonstrate that two long-finned pilot whales both surfaced in synchrony with consecutive arrivals of multiple sonar pulses. We then assess the effect of surfacing and other behavioural response strategies on the received cumulative sound exposure...

article 2015

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The 3S2 experiments – studying the behavioral effects of naval sonar on northern bottlenose whales, humpback whales and minke whales

Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Miller, P. (author), Sivle, L.D. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Roos, M. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Kleivane, L. (author), Visser, F. (author), Cure, C. (author), van IJsselmuide, S.P. (author), Isojunno, S. (author), von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Nordlund, N. (author), Dekeling, R.P.A. (author)

In order to properly consider how behavioral responses to anthropogenic noise affect marine mammals and establish safety limits for sonar operations, there is a need to establish behavioral impact criteria. In order to achieve this, knowledge about how marine mammals might respond, thresholds and durations of responses as well as the biological...

report 2015

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Predator sound playbacks reveal strong avoidance responses in a fight strategist baleen whale

Curé, C. (author), Doksæter Sivle, L. (author), Visser, F. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Isojunno, S. (author), Harris, C.M. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Lam, F.P. (author), Millewr, P.J.O. (author)

Anti-predator strategies are often defined as ‘flight’ or ‘fight’, based upon prey anatomical adaptations for size, morphology and weapons, as well as observed behaviours in the presence of predators. The humpback whale Megaptera nova eangliae is considered a ‘fight’ specialist based upon anatomy and observations of grouping behaviour and active...

article 2015

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Severity of Expert-Identified Behavioural Responses of Humpback Whale, Minke Whale, and Northern Bottlenose Whale to Naval Sonar

Sivle, L.D. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Cure, C. (author), Isojunno, S. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Visser, F. (author), Kleivane, L. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Harris, C.M. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

Controlled exposure experiments using 1 to2 kHz sonar signals were conducted with 11 humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), one minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata), and one northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) during three field trials from 2011 to 2013. Ship approaches without sonar transmis-sions, playbacks of killer whale...

article 2015

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First indications that northern bottlenose whales are sensitive to behavioural disturbance from anthropogenic noise

Miller, P.J.O. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Curé, C. (author), DeRuiter, S.L. (author), Kleivane, L. (author), Sivle, L.D. (author), van IJsselmuide, S.P. (author), Visser, F. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), von Benda-Beckmann, A.M. (author), Martín López, L.M. (author), Narazaki, T. (author), Hooker, S.K. (author)

Although northern bottlenose whales were the most heavily hunted beaked whale, we have little information about this species in its remote habitat of the North Atlantic Ocean. Underwater anthropogenic noise and disruption of their natural habitat may be major threats, given the sensitivity of other beaked whales to such noise disturbance. We...

article 2015

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High thresholds for avoidance of sonar by free-ranging long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas)

Antunes, R. (author), Kvadsheim, P.H. (author), Lam, F.P.A. (author), Tyack, P.L. (author), Thomas, L. (author), Wensveen, P.J. (author), Miller, P.J.O. (author)

The potential effects of exposing marine mammals to military sonar is a current concern. Dose-response relationships are useful for predicting potential environmental impacts of specific operations. To reveal behavioral response thresholds of exposure to sonar, we conducted 18 exposure/control approaches to 6 long-finned pilot whales. Source...

article 2014