Cetaceans and Naval Sonar: Behavioral Response as a Function of Sonar Frequency

Abstract

The long term goal of this international cooperative research program is to investigate behavioral reactions and the sound exposures required to elicit them of herring, killer whales, pilot whales and sperm whales to Low Frequency Active Sonar (LFAS) and Mid Frequency Active Sonar (MFAS) signals, in order to establish safety limits for sonar operations for these species. The objective of this project is to quantify the behavioral reactions of cetaceans (killer whales, pilot whales and sperm whales) and herring to controlled presentations of military sonar signals at 2 different frequencies (LFAS:1-2 kHz and MFAS:6-7 kHz), and relevant control sounds within Norwegian waters. These data will be used to help establish safety limits for sonar operations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 2009
Accession Number
ADA531164

Entities

People

  • Peter Tyack

Organizations

  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acoustic Detection
  • Acoustic Measurement
  • Acoustics
  • Active Sonar
  • Animals
  • Cetaceans
  • Detection
  • Frequency
  • Mammals
  • Marine Mammals
  • Observation
  • Odontocetes
  • Sonar
  • Sonar Signals

Readers

  • Marine Mammal Biology