Behavioral responses of humpback whales to seismic air guns

A study of the response of humpback whales to seismic air guns is being conducted in Australian waters and two of four major experiments have been completed. It aims to assess the impact of seismic surveys on the whales and the effectiveness of ramp-up in mitigation. In separate trials, whales were...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cato, D., Noad, M., Dunlop, R., McCauley, Robert, Kniest, H., Paton, D., Salgado Kent, Chandra, Jenner, C.
Format: Conference Paper
Published: 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/52258
_version_ 1848758884891623424
author Cato, D.
Noad, M.
Dunlop, R.
McCauley, Robert
Kniest, H.
Paton, D.
Salgado Kent, Chandra
Jenner, C.
author_facet Cato, D.
Noad, M.
Dunlop, R.
McCauley, Robert
Kniest, H.
Paton, D.
Salgado Kent, Chandra
Jenner, C.
author_sort Cato, D.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description A study of the response of humpback whales to seismic air guns is being conducted in Australian waters and two of four major experiments have been completed. It aims to assess the impact of seismic surveys on the whales and the effectiveness of ramp-up in mitigation. In separate trials, whales were exposed to a 20 cu in air gun, ramp-up in level from 20 cu in to 440 cu in with an air gun array, and a 'hard start' of 140 cu in. Whales were tracked using theodolites on high points ashore and behavioral observations were made from these points and from three small vessels and the source vessel. Vocalising whales were tracked with an array of hydrophones. DATGs were attached to some whales. Observations were made before, during and after exposure. Trials exposing whales to air gun treatments were balanced by controls without air guns firing. Characterization of the sound field throughout the area and the exposure at each whale were determined from propagation measurements and recordings on the hydrophone array and several moored acoustic recording systems. © 2013 Acoustical Society of America.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T09:51:05Z
format Conference Paper
id curtin-20.500.11937-52258
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:51:05Z
publishDate 2013
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-522582017-09-13T15:39:04Z Behavioral responses of humpback whales to seismic air guns Cato, D. Noad, M. Dunlop, R. McCauley, Robert Kniest, H. Paton, D. Salgado Kent, Chandra Jenner, C. A study of the response of humpback whales to seismic air guns is being conducted in Australian waters and two of four major experiments have been completed. It aims to assess the impact of seismic surveys on the whales and the effectiveness of ramp-up in mitigation. In separate trials, whales were exposed to a 20 cu in air gun, ramp-up in level from 20 cu in to 440 cu in with an air gun array, and a 'hard start' of 140 cu in. Whales were tracked using theodolites on high points ashore and behavioral observations were made from these points and from three small vessels and the source vessel. Vocalising whales were tracked with an array of hydrophones. DATGs were attached to some whales. Observations were made before, during and after exposure. Trials exposing whales to air gun treatments were balanced by controls without air guns firing. Characterization of the sound field throughout the area and the exposure at each whale were determined from propagation measurements and recordings on the hydrophone array and several moored acoustic recording systems. © 2013 Acoustical Society of America. 2013 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/52258 10.1121/1.4800994 restricted
spellingShingle Cato, D.
Noad, M.
Dunlop, R.
McCauley, Robert
Kniest, H.
Paton, D.
Salgado Kent, Chandra
Jenner, C.
Behavioral responses of humpback whales to seismic air guns
title Behavioral responses of humpback whales to seismic air guns
title_full Behavioral responses of humpback whales to seismic air guns
title_fullStr Behavioral responses of humpback whales to seismic air guns
title_full_unstemmed Behavioral responses of humpback whales to seismic air guns
title_short Behavioral responses of humpback whales to seismic air guns
title_sort behavioral responses of humpback whales to seismic air guns
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/52258