Fine-scale movement responses of free-ranging harbour porpoises to capture, tagging and short-term noise pulses from a single airgun.

ABSTRACT: Knowledge about the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on the behavioural responses of cetaceans is constrained by lack of data on fine-scale movements of individuals. We equipped five free-ranging harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) with high-resolution location and dive loggers and exposed them to a single 10 inch³ underwater airgun producing high-intensity noise pulses (2-3 s intervals) for 1 min. All five porpoises responded to capture and tagging with longer, faster and more directed movements as well as with shorter, shallower, less wiggly dives immediately after release, with natural behaviour resumed in less than or equal to 24 h. When we exposed porpoises to airgun pulses at ranges of 420-690 m with noise level estimates of 135-147 dB re 1 µPa²s (s

SUBMITTER: van Beest FM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792866 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature