Source specific sound mapping: Spatial, temporal and spectral distribution of sound in the Dutch North Sea

Effective measures for protecting and preserving the marine environment require an understanding of the potential impact of anthropogenic sound on marine life. A crucial component is a proper assessment of the anthropogenic soundscape: which sounds are present where, when and how strong? We provide an extensive case study modelling the spatial,...

Mapping underwater sound in the Dutch part of the North Sea

The European Union requires member states to achieve or maintain good environmental status for their marine territorial waters and explicitly mentions potentially adverse effects of underwater sound. In this study, we focused on producing maps of underwater sound from various natural and anthropogenic origins in the Dutch North Sea. The source...

Sound maps of the Dutch North Sea for natural and anthropogenic sound sources

Regulations for protecting and preserving the marine environment (e.g. in the USA and EU) often require investigating the potential effect of anthropogenic sound on marine life. The origin of underwater sound can be natural as well as anthropogenic. To assess the potential importance of various types of sounds, we constructed sound maps for the...

Mapping underwater noise for the Dutch part of North Sea (abstract)

The EU’s Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires member states (MS) to achieve or maintain Good Environmental Status (GES) by 2020. Specifically, the wording of Descriptor 11 requires “underwater noise to be at levels that do not adversely affect the marine environment”. The MSFD further requires monitoring of “trends in the ambient...