Deep Diving Cetacean Behavioral Response Study MED 09
Abstract
Mediterranean 09 (MED 09) is part of a continuing international interdisciplinary effort to better understand behavior and the effects of sound on beaked whales and other cetaceans. The long term goals of this multi-disciplinary scientific endeavor are to provide a wide variety of basic oceanographic and biological data and urgently needed behavioral response measurements as part of a long-term international research program that addresses many of the priorities identified by scientific reviews (National Research Council, NRC 1994, 2000, 2003, 2005; the International Council for Exploration of the Seas, ICES AGISC 2005; the UK Inter-Agency Committee on Marine Science and Technology, IACMST 2006, Southall et al. 2007), the report of a technical workshop on beaked whales (Cox et al. 2006) and international bodies such as an Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS) regarding the understanding and protection of cetaceans from adverse effects of anthropogenic noise, including sonar. Particularly notable among these efforts were tagging, followed by sound controlled exposure experiments on beaked whales and large delphinids at a naval testing acoustic range in the Bahamas in 2007 and 2008 (referred to as Behavior Response Studies, or BRS).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA531206
Entities
People
- Angela D'amico
Organizations
- Naval Information Warfare Systems Command