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Displacement responses of a mysticete, an adontocete, and a phacid seal to construction-related vessel traffic

2013; Inter-Research; Volume: 21; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3354/esr00523

1863-5407

Pia Anderwald, Anja Brandecker, Mary Ann Coleman, Clodagh Collins, H Denniston, MD Haberlin, Mairéad O’Donovan, Róisín Pinfield, Fleur Visser, Laura Walshe,

Animal Vocal Communication and Behavior

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 21:231-240 (2013) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00523 Displacement responses of a mysticete, an odontocete, and a phocid seal to construction-related vessel traffic Pia Anderwald1,2,*, Anja Brandecker1, Mary Coleman1, Clodagh Collins1, Hannah Denniston1, Michael Damien Haberlin1, Mairéad O’Donovan1, Róisín Pinfield1, Fleur Visser3,4, Laura Walshe1 1Coastal and Marine Research Centre, University College Cork, Haulbowline, Cobh, Co. Cork, Ireland 2Swiss National Park, Chastè Planta-Wildenberg, 7530 Zernez, Switzerland 3Kelp Marine Research, 1624 CJ, Hoorn, The Netherlands 4University of Amsterdam, IBED Institute, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, The Netherlands *Email: panderwald@hotmail.com ABSTRACT: Marine construction works often lead to temporary increases in vessel traffic, which, in addition to the construction activity itself, contribute to underwater ambient noise in the affected area and increase the risk of vessel collision for marine mammals. Using a 3 yr data set of cliff-based observations, we investigated whether the presence/absence of minke whales, bottlenose dolphins and grey seals varied with the overall number and type of vessels present during the construction of an underwater gas pipeline through a bay on the northwest coast of Ireland. Results from binary generalised estimation equations showed a positive relationship between the presence of bottlenose dolphins and the overall number of boats, as well as the number of construction vessels. However, the presence of the 2 taxa with higher hearing sensitivity at low frequencies—minke whales and grey seals—was negatively correlated with the total number of boats and the number of utility vessels (as well as the number of fishing boats in the case of minke whales). While bottlenose dolphins may have been attracted to either the vessels per se or high prey concentrations coinciding with construction activities, both minke whales and grey seals appear to have been displaced by high levels of vessel traffic, most likely due to noise disturbance. Careful consideration of mitigation measures, especially for taxa with low-frequency hearing, is therefore essential in the planning phase of offshore construction activities, which should also take local circumstances into account. KEY WORDS: Offshore construction · Marine mammals · GEE · Noise disturbance Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Anderwald P, Brandecker A, Coleman M, Collins C and others (2013) Displacement responses of a mysticete, an odontocete, and a phocid seal to construction-related vessel traffic. Endang Species Res 21:231-240. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00523 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 21, No. 3. Online publication date: September 06, 2013 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2013 Inter-Research.