Ecomare/Salko de Wolf Den Hoorn Texel, Wikimedia CC
Ecomare/Salko de Wolf Den Hoorn Texel, Wikimedia CC

Porpoises get used to pile driving noise

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There's a growing awareness that noises humans create underwater - such as that from ships or construction - can affect marine mammals. During the 10 months that foundation work was underway for a windfarm in the North Sea, researchers kept tabs on porpoises to find out how much the pile-driving noise bothered them. They found the porpoises reacted less to the noise over time, but the use of deterrent devices and vessel activity increased the amount of disturbance, suggesting all noise sources need to be considered when trying to reduce the impact on marine mammals.

Journal/conference: Royal Society Open Science

Link to research (DOI): 10.1098/rsos.190335

Organisation/s: University of Aberdeen, UK

Funder: Beatrice Offshore Wind Ltd, University of Aberdeen, Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.

Media Release

From: The Royal Society

Harbour porpoise responses to pile-driving diminish over time

Do responses of marine mammals to underwater noise change over time? Our study of harbour porpoises showed that behavioural responses decreased through a 10-month installation of offshore windfarm foundations. Response distances were lower than the 26 km used in recent environmental assessments. As a result, only 28% of individuals were affected, lower than would be currently predicted, reducing to 18% by the end of construction. However, acoustic deterrent devices used to reduce near-field injury and vessel activity increased behavioural disturbance, highlighting the need to consider and balance all sources of noise when minimising impacts of renewables on marine mammals.

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