Overview of the impacts of anthropogenic underwater sound in the marine environment Biodiversity Series 2009 Overview of the impacts of anthropogenic underwater sound in the marine environment OSPAR Convention Convention OSPAR The Convention for the Protection of the La Convention pour la protection du milieu Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic marin de l'Atlantique du Nord-Est, dite (the “OSPAR Convention”) was opened for Convention OSPAR, a été ouverte à la signature at the Ministerial Meeting of the signature à la réunion ministérielle des former Oslo and Paris Commissions in Paris anciennes Commissions d'Oslo et de Paris, on 22 September 1992. The Convention à Paris le 22 septembre 1992. La Convention entered into force on 25 March 1998. It has est entrée en vigueur le 25 mars 1998. been ratified by Belgium, Denmark, Finland, La Convention a été ratifiée par l'Allemagne, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, la Belgique, le Danemark, la Finlande, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, la France, l’Irlande, l’Islande, le Luxembourg, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom la Norvège, les Pays-Bas, le Portugal, and approved by the European Community le Royaume-Uni de Grande Bretagne and Spain. et d’Irlande du Nord, la Suède et la Suisse et approuvée par la Communauté européenne et l’Espagne. 2 OSPAR Commission, 2009 Acknowledgements Author list (in alphabetical order) Thomas Götz Scottish Oceans Institute, East Sands University of St Andrews St Andrews, Fife KY16 8LB [email protected] Module 2, 8 Gordon Hastie SMRU Limited New Technology Centre North Haugh St Andrews, Fife KY16 9SR [email protected] Module 2, 8 Leila T. Hatch Marine Ecologist Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary NOS-NOQQ 175 Edward Foster Road Scituate Massachusetts 02066 [email protected]. Module 5 Odd Raustein The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate P.O. Box 600, 4003 Stavanger, Norway [email protected] Module 7 Brandon L. Southall (Current affiliation): (Previous affiliation): Senior Scientist Director, NOAA Ocean Acoustics Program SEA, Inc. and National Marine Fisheries Service Associate Researcher Office of Science and Technology University of California 1315 East West Hwy, SSMC III #12539 Santa Cruz Silver Spring, MD 20910-6233 [email protected] [email protected] Module 5 Mark Tasker Head of Marine Advice Joint Nature Conservation Committee Dunnet House 7 Thistle Place Aberdeen AB10 1UZ [email protected] Module 6 3 Overview of the impacts of anthropogenic underwater sound in the marine environment Frank Thomsen Marine Scientific Advisor, Cefas Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 0HT, UK [email protected] Modules 1, 3, 4 and task manager Editorial comments and suggestion on module 7 John Campbell & Bjørge Fredheim International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) London SE1 8NL John.Campbell.ogp.org.uk The Intersessional correspondence group on underwater noise (2007 - 2009) Frank Thomsen, Javier Pantoja, Suzan van Lieshout, Thomas Merck, Herman Peters, Brigitte Lauwaert, Claudine Boucheron, Ralf Wasserthal, Eugene Nixon, Rona Vink, Jose Buceta, Adrian Judd, Placido Hernandez-Aguilar, John Campbell, Odd Raustein, Anne Langaas, Andy Greaves, Ann Govaerts, Martin Jasny, Zack Smith, Fotios Papoulias, Paulo Domingos-Paixao, Ana Tejedor, Tim Packeiser, Klaus Lucke, Reinier Goud, Sandra van der Graaf, Rene Dekeling, Alexander Liebschner, Natacha Aguilar, Niels Kinneging, Mark Tasker, Wolfgang Dinter, Jeff Adron, Cara Horowitz, Bjorge Fredheim. OSPAR Secretariat support Sebastian Unger, Sylvie Ashe, Barbara Middleton Photo credit Cover photo: beamreach.org 4 OSPAR Commission, 2009 In memory of our colleague Wolfgang DINTER who passed away too early and while this report was being compiled. His deep commitment resulted in increased general perception of the problems that human impacts such as underwater noise pose to marine life. 5 Overview of the impacts of anthropogenic underwater sound in the marine environment 6 OSPAR Commission, 2009 Contents Module 1: Introduction and Terms of Reference ............................................................................ 10 1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Terms of Reference............................................................................................................ 13 1.3 Structure of the Paper ........................................................................................................ 13 1.4 References ......................................................................................................................... 14 Module 2: Background on Underwater Sound ................................................................................ 16 2.1 Nature of sound and basic concepts.................................................................................. 16 2.2 Measurement of sound....................................................................................................... 17 2.3 Physical units...................................................................................................................... 17 2.3.1 Sound pressure level and the decibel ................................................................... 17 2.3.2 Sound exposure level ............................................................................................ 18 2.3.3 Spectrum of a sound.............................................................................................. 19 2.4 Biological units.................................................................................................................... 19 2.5 Sound versus noise............................................................................................................ 20 2.6 Source level measurements............................................................................................... 20 2.7 Sound propagation and transmission loss ......................................................................... 20 2.8 Background noise............................................................................................................... 21 2.9 References ......................................................................................................................... 21 Module 3: Background on General Aspects of Impacts of Sound on Marine Life ...................... 23 3.1 The Importance of Sound for Marine Organisms............................................................... 23 3.2 Sources of Sound in the Marine Environment.................................................................... 24 3.3 Assessing Impacts of Underwater Sound on Marine Life .................................................. 24 3.4 Regulation and Mitigation................................................................................................... 31 3.5 Conclusions........................................................................................................................ 32 3.6 References ......................................................................................................................... 32 Module 4: Marine Construction and Industrial Activities............................................................... 37 4.1 Noise Profiles of Marine Construction and Industrial Activities.......................................... 37 4.2 Effects on Marine Mammals............................................................................................... 39 4.2.1 Responsiveness .................................................................................................... 39 4.2.2 Hearing loss and injury .......................................................................................... 41 4.3 Effects on Fish.................................................................................................................... 42 4.4 Effects on other species ..................................................................................................... 43 4.5 Mitigation ............................................................................................................................ 44 4.6 Conclusions........................................................................................................................ 45 4.7 References ......................................................................................................................... 46 Module 5: Shipping ............................................................................................................................ 50 5.1 Noise profiles of marine vessels......................................................................................... 50 5.1.1 Small leisure craft and boats: ................................................................................ 50 5.1.2 Medium-size ships ................................................................................................. 51 5.1.3 Large vessels......................................................................................................... 51 5.2 Trends in marine ambient noise......................................................................................... 52 5.3 Effects of shipping noise on marine mammals................................................................... 53 5.3.1 Behaviour............................................................................................................... 54 5.3.2 Injury