Effects of shipping on marine acoustic habitats in Canadian Arctic estimated via probabilistic modeling and mapping

Florian Aulanier; Yvan Simard; Nathalie Roy; Cédric Gervaise; Marion Bandet

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.08.002

Effects of shipping on marine acoustic habitats in Canadian Arctic estimated via probabilistic modeling and mapping

Mar Pollut Bull. 2017 Dec 15;125(1-2):115-131. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.08.002. Epub 2017 Aug 31.

Authors

Florian Aulanier¹, Yvan Simard², Nathalie Roy³, Cédric Gervaise⁴, Marion Bandet⁵

Affiliations

¹ Fisheries and Oceans Canada Chair in underwater acoustics applied to ecosystem and marine mammals, Marine Sciences Institute, University of Québec at Rimouski, Rimouski, Qc, Canada; Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Mont-Joli, Qc, Canada. Electronic address: Florian.Aulanier@uqar.ca.
² Fisheries and Oceans Canada Chair in underwater acoustics applied to ecosystem and marine mammals, Marine Sciences Institute, University of Québec at Rimouski, Rimouski, Qc, Canada; Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Mont-Joli, Qc, Canada.
³ Maurice Lamontagne Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Mont-Joli, Qc, Canada.
⁴ CHORUS Research Institute, Grenoble-Alpes University, Grenoble, France; GIPSA-Lab, Grenoble-Alpes University, Grenoble, France.
⁵ Fisheries and Oceans Canada Chair in underwater acoustics applied to ecosystem and marine mammals, Marine Sciences Institute, University of Québec at Rimouski, Rimouski, Qc, Canada.

PMID: 28863978
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.08.002

Abstract

Canadian Arctic and Subarctic regions experience a rapid decrease of sea ice accompanied with increasing shipping traffic. The resulting time-space changes in shipping noise are studied for four key regions of this pristine environment, for 2013 traffic conditions and a hypothetical tenfold traffic increase. A probabilistic modeling and mapping framework, called Ramdam, which integrates the intrinsic variability and uncertainties of shipping noise and its effects on marine habitats, is developed and applied. A substantial transformation of soundscapes is observed in areas where shipping noise changes from present occasional-transient contributor to a dominant noise source. Examination of impacts on low-frequency mammals within ecologically and biologically significant areas reveals that shipping noise has the potential to trigger behavioral responses and masking in the future, although no risk of temporary or permanent hearing threshold shifts is noted. Such probabilistic modeling and mapping is strategic in marine spatial planning of this emerging noise issues.

Keywords: Acoustic propagation; Arctic ESBA; Impact risk assessment; Probabilistic modeling; Shipping traffic; Underwater noise.

MeSH terms

Animals
Arctic Regions
Canada
Ecosystem
Environment
Mammals
Models, Statistical*
Noise*
Ships*