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Booth CG, Brannan N, Dunlop R, Friedlander A, Isojunno S, Miller P, Quick N, Southall B, Pirotta E. A sampling, exposure and receptor framework for identifying factors that modulate behavioural responses to disturbance in cetaceans. J Anim Ecol 2022; 91:1948-1960. [PMID: 35895847 PMCID: PMC9804311 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.13787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/26/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
The assessment of behavioural disturbance in cetacean species (e.g. resulting from exposure to anthropogenic sources such as military sonar, seismic surveys, or pile driving) is important for effective conservation and management. Disturbance effects can be informed by Behavioural Response Studies (BRSs), involving either controlled exposure experiments (CEEs) where noise exposure conditions are presented deliberately to meet experimental objectives or in opportunistic contexts where ongoing activities are monitored in a strategic manner. In either context, animal-borne sensors or in situ observations can provide information on individual exposure and disturbance responses. The past 15 years of research have greatly expanded our understanding of behavioural responses to noise, including hundreds of experiments in nearly a dozen cetacean species. Many papers note limited sample sizes, required knowledge of baseline behaviour prior to exposure and the importance of contextual factors modulating behavioural responses, all of which in combination can lead to sampling biases, even for well-designed research programs. It is critical to understand these biases to robustly identify responses. This ensures outcomes of BRSs help inform predictions of how anthropogenic disturbance impacts individuals and populations. Our approach leverages concepts from the animal behaviour literature focused on helping to avoid sampling bias by considering what shapes an animal's response. These factors include social, experience, genetic and natural changes in responsiveness. We developed and applied a modified version of this framework to synthesise current knowledge on cetacean response in the context of effects observed across marine and terrestrial taxa. This new 'Sampling, Exposure, Receptor' framework (SERF) identifies 43 modulating factors, highlights potential biases, and assesses how these vary across selected focal species. In contrast to studies that identified variation in 'Exposure' factors as a key concern, our analysis indicated that factors relating to 'Sampling' (e.g. deploying tags on less evasive individuals, which biases selection of subjects), and 'Receptor' (e.g. health status or coping style) have the greatest potential for weakening the desired broad representativeness of BRSs. Our assessment also highlights how potential biases could be addressed with existing datasets or future developments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cormac G. Booth
- SMRU Consulting, Scottish Oceans InstituteUniversity of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUK
| | - Naomi Brannan
- Southeast Asia Marine Mammal ResearchHong KongHong Kong
| | - Rebecca Dunlop
- Cetacean Ecology and Acoustics LaboratoryMoreton Bay Research Station and School of Biological SciencesUniversity of QueenslandBrisbaneAustralia
| | - Ari Friedlander
- Southall Environmental Associates, Inc.AptosCaliforniaUSA,University of California, Institute of Marine ScienceSanta CruzCaliforniaUSA
| | - Saana Isojunno
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans InstituteUniversity of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUK
| | - Patrick Miller
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans InstituteUniversity of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUK
| | - Nicola Quick
- School of Biological and Marine SciencesUniversity of PlymouthPlymouthUK,Nicholas School of the EnvironmentDuke UniversityBeaufortNorth CarolinaUSA
| | - Brandon Southall
- Southall Environmental Associates, Inc.AptosCaliforniaUSA,University of California, Institute of Marine ScienceSanta CruzCaliforniaUSA
| | - Enrico Pirotta
- Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental ModellingUniversity of St AndrewsSt AndrewsUK
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Kok ACM, Bruil L, Berges B, Sakinan S, Debusschere E, Reubens J, de Haan D, Norro A, Slabbekoorn H. An echosounder view on the potential effects of impulsive noise pollution on pelagic fish around windfarms in the North Sea. ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2021; 290:118063. [PMID: 34482245 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2021.118063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Anthropogenic noise in the oceans is disturbing marine life. Among other groups, pelagic fish are likely to be affected by sound from human activities, but so far have received relatively little attention. Offshore wind farms have become numerous and will become even more abundant in the next decades. Wind farms can be interesting to pelagic fish due to food abundance or fisheries restrictions. At the same time, construction of wind farms involves high levels of anthropogenic noise, likely disturbing and/or deterring pelagic fish. Here, we investigated whether bottom-moored echosounders are a suitable tool for studying the effects of impulsive - intermittent, high-intensity - anthropogenic noise on pelagic fish around wind farms and we explored the possible nature of their responses. Three different wind farms along the Dutch and Belgian coast were examined, one with exposure to the passing by of an experimental seismic survey with a full-scale airgun array, one with pile driving activity in an adjacent wind farm construction site and one control site without exposure. Two bottom-moored echosounders were placed in each wind farm and recorded fish presence and behaviour before, during and after the exposures. The echosounders were successful in detecting variation in the number of fish schools and their behaviour. During the seismic survey exposure there were significantly fewer, but more cohesive, schools than before, whereas during pile driving fish swam shallower with more cohesive schools. However, the types and magnitudes of response patterns were also observed at the control site with no impulsive sound exposure. We therefore stress the need for thorough replication beyond single case studies, before we can conclude that impulsive sounds, from either seismic surveys or pile driving, are a disturbing factor for pelagic fish in otherwise attractive habitat around wind farms.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lisa Bruil
- Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Benoit Berges
- Wageningen Marine Research, Wageningen University & Research, IJmuiden, the Netherlands
| | - Serdar Sakinan
- Wageningen Marine Research, Wageningen University & Research, IJmuiden, the Netherlands
| | | | | | - Dick de Haan
- Wageningen Marine Research, Wageningen University & Research, IJmuiden, the Netherlands
| | - Alain Norro
- Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Hans Slabbekoorn
- Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
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Kok AC, van Hulten D, Timmerman KH, Lankhorst J, Visser F, Slabbekoorn H. Interacting effects of short-term and long-term noise exposure on antipredator behaviour in sand gobies. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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Isojunno S, Wensveen PJ, Lam FPA, Kvadsheim PH, von Benda-Beckmann AM, Martín López LM, Kleivane L, Siegal EM, Miller PJO. When the noise goes on: received sound energy predicts sperm whale responses to both intermittent and continuous navy sonar. J Exp Biol 2020; 223:jeb219741. [PMID: 32107307 PMCID: PMC7157582 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.219741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2019] [Accepted: 02/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Anthropogenic noise sources range from intermittent to continuous, with seismic and navy sonar technology moving towards near-continuous 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 contrast the effects of navy PAS versus CAS on sperm whale behaviour using animal-attached sound- and movement-recording tags (n=16 individuals) in Norway. Changes in foraging effort and proxies for foraging success and cost during sonar and control exposures were assessed while accounting for baseline variation [individual effects, time of day, bathymetry and blackfish (pilot/killer whale) presence] in generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs). We found no reduction in time spent foraging during exposures to medium-level PAS (MPAS) transmitted at the same peak amplitude as CAS. In contrast, we found similar reductions in foraging during CAS (d.f.=1, F=8.0, P=0.005) and higher amplitude PAS (d.f.=1, F=20.8, P<0.001) when received at similar energy levels integrated over signal duration. These results provide clear support for sound energy over amplitude as the response driver. We discuss the importance of exposure context and the need to measure cumulative sound energy to account for intermittent versus more continuous sources in noise impact assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saana Isojunno
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Paul J Wensveen
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland, Askja, Sturlugata 7, 102 Reykjavik, Iceland
| | - Frans-Peter A Lam
- Acoustics and Sonar, Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), PO Box 96864 The Hague, 2509 JG, The Netherlands
| | - Petter H Kvadsheim
- Defence Systems Division, Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI), NO-3191 Horten, Norway
| | - Alexander M von Benda-Beckmann
- Acoustics and Sonar, Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO), PO Box 96864 The Hague, 2509 JG, The Netherlands
| | - Lucía M Martín López
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
| | | | - Eilidh M Siegal
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
| | - Patrick J O Miller
- Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB, UK
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Hubert J, Neo YY, Winter HV, Slabbekoorn H. The role of ambient sound levels, signal-to-noise ratio, and stimulus pulse rate on behavioural disturbance of seabass in a net pen. Behav Processes 2019; 170:103992. [PMID: 31704307 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2019] [Revised: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 10/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Anthropogenic sources increasingly contribute to the underwater soundscape and this may negatively impact aquatic life, including fish. Anthropogenic sound may mask relevant sound, alter behaviour, physiology, and may lead to physical injury. Behavioural effect studies are often seen as critical to evaluate individual and population-level impact. However, behavioural responsiveness likely depends on context and characteristics of sound stimuli. We pose that ambient sound levels, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and pulse rate interval (PRI), could affect the behavioural response of fish. To study this, we experimentally exposed groups of tagged European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) to different impulsive sound treatments that varied in pulse level, elevated background level, SNR, and PRI. Upon sound exposure, the seabass increased their swimming depth. The variation in the increase in swimming depth could not be attributed to pulse level, background level, SNR or PRI. It may be that the current range of sound levels or PRIs was too narrow to find such effects.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Hubert
- Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, the Netherlands.
| | - Y Y Neo
- Wageningen Marine Research, Wageningen UR, the Netherlands
| | - H V Winter
- Wageningen Marine Research, Wageningen UR, the Netherlands
| | - H Slabbekoorn
- Institute of Biology Leiden, Leiden University, the Netherlands
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