Underwater Acoustic Signatures of Recreational Swimmers, Divers, Surfers and Kayakers

© 2016 Australian Acoustical Society. Non-motorised, recreational water activities were recorded underwater in the controlled setting of a public swimming pool during the off-season. Individuals, one at a time, swam freestyle and breaststroke, snorkelled, scuba-dived, kicked a boogie board and a sur...

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Main Authors: Erbe, Christine, Parsons, Miles, Duncan, Alan, Allen, Kim
Format: Journal Article
Published: Australian Acoustical Society 2016
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47625
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author Erbe, Christine
Parsons, Miles
Duncan, Alan
Allen, Kim
author_facet Erbe, Christine
Parsons, Miles
Duncan, Alan
Allen, Kim
author_sort Erbe, Christine
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2016 Australian Acoustical Society. Non-motorised, recreational water activities were recorded underwater in the controlled setting of a public swimming pool during the off-season. Individuals, one at a time, swam freestyle and breaststroke, snorkelled, scuba-dived, kicked a boogie board and a surfboard, kayaked, and simply jumped into the water. Underwater video and still images were recorded at the same time to interpret the sounds recorded. Most of the sound was due to bubbles generated underwater. Activities involving fins (flippers) were the loudest (boogie boarding and snorkelling), followed by freestyle swimming, surfboard paddling, and kayaking. Breaststroke generated the fewest bubbles and was the quietest. All activities produced bubbles, hence noise, at a characteristic temporal pattern. Scuba-diving exhibited two distinct noise spectra related to inhalation and exhalation. Received levels ranged from 110 to 131 dB re 1 µ Pa (10–16,000 Hz) for all of the activities at the closest point of approach (1 m). The results might have applicability to the monitoring of pools for security reasons, to performance assessments of swimmers, and to studies of the distances at which humans may be detectible by marine animals in the sea.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-476252017-09-13T14:16:25Z Underwater Acoustic Signatures of Recreational Swimmers, Divers, Surfers and Kayakers Erbe, Christine Parsons, Miles Duncan, Alan Allen, Kim © 2016 Australian Acoustical Society. Non-motorised, recreational water activities were recorded underwater in the controlled setting of a public swimming pool during the off-season. Individuals, one at a time, swam freestyle and breaststroke, snorkelled, scuba-dived, kicked a boogie board and a surfboard, kayaked, and simply jumped into the water. Underwater video and still images were recorded at the same time to interpret the sounds recorded. Most of the sound was due to bubbles generated underwater. Activities involving fins (flippers) were the loudest (boogie boarding and snorkelling), followed by freestyle swimming, surfboard paddling, and kayaking. Breaststroke generated the fewest bubbles and was the quietest. All activities produced bubbles, hence noise, at a characteristic temporal pattern. Scuba-diving exhibited two distinct noise spectra related to inhalation and exhalation. Received levels ranged from 110 to 131 dB re 1 µ Pa (10–16,000 Hz) for all of the activities at the closest point of approach (1 m). The results might have applicability to the monitoring of pools for security reasons, to performance assessments of swimmers, and to studies of the distances at which humans may be detectible by marine animals in the sea. 2016 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47625 10.1007/s40857-016-0062-7 Australian Acoustical Society fulltext
spellingShingle Erbe, Christine
Parsons, Miles
Duncan, Alan
Allen, Kim
Underwater Acoustic Signatures of Recreational Swimmers, Divers, Surfers and Kayakers
title Underwater Acoustic Signatures of Recreational Swimmers, Divers, Surfers and Kayakers
title_full Underwater Acoustic Signatures of Recreational Swimmers, Divers, Surfers and Kayakers
title_fullStr Underwater Acoustic Signatures of Recreational Swimmers, Divers, Surfers and Kayakers
title_full_unstemmed Underwater Acoustic Signatures of Recreational Swimmers, Divers, Surfers and Kayakers
title_short Underwater Acoustic Signatures of Recreational Swimmers, Divers, Surfers and Kayakers
title_sort underwater acoustic signatures of recreational swimmers, divers, surfers and kayakers
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47625