Document Type
Article
Date
2014
Keywords
Ship noise, Renewable energy, AIS data, Time-lapse, Marine mammals, Acoustic disturbance
Language
English
Disciplines
Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Monitoring | Marine Biology | Oceanography | Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology
Description/Abstract
The potential impacts of underwater noise on marine mammals are widely recognised, but uncertainty over variability in baseline noise levels often constrains efforts to manage these impacts. This paper characterises natural and anthropogenic contributors to underwater noise at two sites in the Moray Firth Special Area of Conservation, an important marine mammal habitat that may be exposed to increased shipping activity from proposed offshore energy developments. We aimed to establish a pre-develop- ment baseline, and to develop ship noise monitoring methods using Automatic Identification System (AIS) and time-lapse video to record trends in noise levels and shipping activity. Our results detail the noise levels currently experienced by a locally protected bottlenose dolphin population, explore the relationship between broadband sound exposure levels and the indicators proposed in response to the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and provide a ship noise assessment toolkit which can be applied in other coastal marine environments.
ISSN
0025-326X
Recommended Citation
Merchant, N. D., Pirotta, E., Barton, T. R., & Thompson, P. M. (2014). Monitoring ship noise to assess the impact of coastal developments on marine mammals. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 78(1), 85-95.
Source
submission
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Included in
Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Environmental Monitoring Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Oceanography Commons, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons
