Characteristics and Propagation of Airgun Pulses in Shallow Water with Implications for Effects on Small Marine Mammals.

ABSTRACT: Airguns used in seismic surveys are among the most prevalent and powerful anthropogenic noise sources in marine habitats. They are designed to produce most energy below 100 Hz, but the pulses have also been reported to contain medium-to-high frequency components with the potential to affect small marine mammals, which have their best hearing sensitivity at higher frequencies. In shallow water environments, inhabited by many of such species, the impact of airgun noise may be particularly challenging to assess due to complex propagation conditions. To alleviate the current lack of knowledge on the characteristics and propagation of airgun pulses in shallow water with implications for effects on small marine mammals, we recorded pulses from a single airgun with three operating volumes (10 in3

SUBMITTER: Hermannsen L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4516352 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature