3S2: Behavioral Response Studies of Cetaceans to Naval Sonar Signals in Norwegian Waters

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 three species of whales: bottlenose whales, minke whales, and humpback 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. Another goal of the program is to assess the effectiveness of ramp-up, a common mitigation protocol in which source levels are gradually increased prior to the onset of full-level transmissions. Ramp-up is thought to give nearby animals some time to move away before sonar transmissions reach maximum levels. However, it is unknown whether or not this protocol is actually effective. We have developed a new experimental design to test whether ramp-up is an effective protocol to reduce risk of harm and our goal is to conduct experiments to test the effectiveness of ramp-up in humpback whales.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 2011
Accession Number
ADA598740

Entities

People

  • Peter Tyack

Organizations

  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Ground and Sea Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Sonar
  • Animals
  • Cetaceans
  • Data Sets
  • Experimental Design
  • Frequency
  • Mammals
  • Marine Mammals
  • Odontocetes
  • Organic Materials
  • Playback
  • Project Management
  • Sonar
  • Sonar Signals
  • Standards

Readers

  • Marine Mammal Biology