The Impact of Human-Caused Ocean Noise Pollution - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The Impact of Human-Caused Ocean Noise Pollution on Fish, Invertebrates, and Ecosystem Services

Lindy Weilgart, Ph.D.OceanCare, Switzerland&Department of BiologyDalhousie UniversityHalifax, Nova Scotia CANADA

Slide2

Sound in the WaterSpeed of sound in seawater is about 5x that in airSound on land extends 1-10 kilometers Sound can travel 1,000s of kilometers underwater very fast

Slide3

Humans use Sight, Marine Animals use SoundMarine animals “see” with their ears. To marine animals, flooding the ocean with noise is like shining a flashlight into our eyes, blinding us.

Slide4

Marine animals rely on sound for all life functionsDepend on sound for:Food-findingReproducingCommunicating

Avoiding predators and hazardsNavigatingSensing their environment

Slide5

Impacts of Noise on Marine AnimalsMost marine animals use sound for vital functions102+ fish and invertebrate species impacted by noise66 species of fish36 species of invertebratesRecently, studies on fish and invertebrates show impacts extend beyond individual species to include communities of species and how they interact, compromising ecosystem productivity, and ecological services (sediment mixing, nutrient cycling), with commercial consequences

Slide6

Sources of NoiseSeismic Airgun SurveyShipping

Slide7

Seismic AirgunsFor detecting oil and gas under sea floorLoud, intense, broadband impulses or “shots” from air released under very high pressureHigh acoustic peak pressure (263 dB) and sharp (short) rise timeArrays of 12-48+ airgunsOcean floor penetration > 100 km even after going through sometimes 1,000s of m of water

Every 10 s, 24 hrs/day, usually over monthsPowerful enough to take your arm off if fired at close range

Slide8

3D Seismic: Bird’s-Eye View

Source: PGS

Sea surface area covered by towed seismic array = 26 km

2

Slide9

Moored hydrophones

along Mid-Atlantic Ridge:

Seismic

airgun

noise off Nova Scotia formed the main part of background noise

4,000

km away.

Seismic

airgun

noise heard nearly constantly throughout Atlantic based on a decade of sea floor monitoring.

Off N.S., 3 surveys at any one time over summer

(

Nieukirk

et al. 2012)

cc

cc

cc

cc

Nova Scotia

cc

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Slide10

Global Offshore Seismic Exploration (1994-2005)Courtesy of John Hildebrand

Slide11

Loudness of Various Sounds

235-263 dB

Seismic array

216-230 dB

Single air gun

255 dB

Undersea

earthquake

260 dB

Undersea volcano

267 dB

0.5 kg TNT

Decibel scale is logarithmic--

each increase in 3 dB is a doubling of intensity

Slide12

Impacts of Noise on Marine AnimalsDevelopmentBody malformationsHigher egg or immature mortalityDevelopmental delays

Delays in metamorphosing and settlingSlower growth ratesAnatomyHearing loss (up to months or permanent)

Cellular damage to statocysts/neurons

Massive internal injuries

Disorientation and death

Slide13

Impacts of Noise on Marine AnimalsPhysiology (stress)Increases in:Stress hormonesMetabolic rate

Oxygen uptakeCardiac outputParasitesIrritationDistress

Mortality rate (disease and cannibalism)

Worse/lower:

Body condition

Growth

Weight

Food consumption

Immune response

Reproductive rates

DNA integrity

Overall physiology

Slide14

Impacts of Noise on Marine AnimalsBehaviorAvoidance of important habitat, days to yearsAlarm responses, hiding, flightIncreased aggression

Decreased anti-predator defenseDecreased nest-digging and careDecreased courtship calls, spawning, egg clutchesDecreased feeding

Distraction (food-handling errors, inefficiency)

Uncoordinated schooling

Slide15

Impacts of Noise on Marine AnimalsMasking (obscuring, obliterating of sounds of interest)Commercial catch ratesDecreased landings

Large fish leave areaIncreased bycatchDecreased abundanceEcological ServicesLess water filtration

Less sediment layer mixing

Less bio-irrigation (key to nutrient cycling)

Slide16

Healthy populations of fish are not possible without viable planktonic productivity

Seismic

Airgun

Noise Kills Zooplankton

Single

airgun

causes “hole” in zooplankton out to 1.2 km (max range examined)

(M

cCauley et al. 2017)

Most seismic surveys consist of 18-48

airguns

Numbers halved in most plankton species

1/3 of species almost entirely killed

All krill larvae killed

2-3x more dead zooplankton

From McCauley et al. 2017

Slide17

Noise Impacts on Ecosystem and Ecological ServicesPile driving noise caused valve closure in mussels, energetically costly behavior, disrupting breathing, heart rate and excretion, halving oxygen concentrations and doubling CO2 levels in 3 hrs (Roberts et al. 2015)Growth and body condition likely to suffer, with ecosystem and commercial consequences

Slide18

Noise Impacts on Ecosystem and Ecological ServicesShip noise suppressed oyster activity and volume of water flowing over their gills, decreasing food uptake, causing slower fat metabolism and growth rate, greater oxidative stress (Charifi et al. 2018)The slowdown in growth constitutes “a potentially massive risk in terms of ecosystem productivity”

Slide19

Noise Impacts on Ecosystem and Ecological ServicesBoat noise increased larval mortality and developmental failure in sea hare embryos (Nedelec et al. 2014)Keep corals and algae in balance, graze on toxic bacteriaShip generator noise increases mussel biofouling but decreases size with “potential cascading ecological impacts” (Jolivet et al. 2016)

Vessel hull fouling responsible for 75% of invasive species brought in by ships (McDonald et al. 2014)Costs U.S. Navy US$1 billion every yearNoise causes confusion and disrupts orientation behavior at a critical (larval) stage in reef fish (Simpson et al. 2010)Could affect population welfare, weaken connectivity between populations, reducing replenishment of fished species

Slide20

Noise Impacts on Ecosystem and Ecological ServicesNoise repressed burying and bio-irrigation behavior (or water circulation within lobster burrows) in Norway lobsters (Solan et al. 2016)Manila clams showed a stress response to noise, individuals relocated less, stayed on top of the seabed, and closed their valves, increasing lactate dangerouslyClams could not mix upper layers of sediment and could not feed

Noise changed the fluid and particle transport that invertebrates provide, key to nutrient cycling on the seabed

Slide21

Noise Impacts on Ecosystem and Ecological ServicesA seismic survey caused reef fish abundance to decline by 78% in the evening when fish habitat use was highest (Paxton et al. 2017)Such reactions of an entire community of species means fish lose opportunities to aggregate, forage, or mate

Response occurred across fish species

Temperate coral reef 1 day before seismic

Same reef with seismic 8 km away

From Paxton et al. 2017

Slide22

Shrimp in louder tanks exhibited stress, decreased growth, food consumption, reproductive rates (50% vs. 80%), egg-bearing females (70% vs. 92%), increased mortality (from disease and cannibalism)

(

Lagardère

1982),

and metabolism (higher oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion)

(

Régnault

&

Lagardère

1983)

Seismic airgun noise caused chronic impairment of immune competency and nutritional condition in lobsters up to 120 days post-exposure

(Fitzgibbon et al. 2017).

Developmental delays from seismic in scallop larvae in tanks; 46% with body malformations

(Aguilar de Soto et al. 2013)

Impacts of Noise on Invertebrates

Slide23

Seismic significantly increased mortality in scallops

Mortality continued to increase over time

Day et al.2017

Slide24

Noise Impacts on Ecosystem and Ecological Services6 hrs of ship noise caused breaks in DNA of blue mussel, lower filtration (algal clearance), oxidative stress (Wale et al. 2016)Mussels could not perform important ecological service of water filtrationScallop mortality increased with seismic survey, reflexes disrupted, immunocompromised, imbalanced electrolytes (Day et al. 2017)Scallops improve water quality through bio-filtration, increase light for underwater plants, decrease eutrophication, feed bottom-dwelling organisms by depositing organic matter from water column

Predator-prey interactions in fish changed with boat noise (Sabet et al. 2015; Simpson et al. 2016)Food web dynamics, community structure and stability compromised

Slide25

Noise Impacts on Invertebrates & FishLF noise caused substantial, permanent, cellular damage to statocysts and neurons in squid, cuttlefish, octopus, jellyfish (André et al. 2011; Solé et al. 2013a, 2013b, 2016, 2017)

“…massive acoustic trauma, not compatible with life…” (André et al. 2011)Extensively damaged caged snapper fish ears in the field from seismic noise. No recovery after 58 days (McCauley

et al. 2003). Snapper

ear

is similar to tuna ear.

Before

After

McCauley et al. 2003

Slide26

Increased stress hormones and indicators in bass, sea bream, cod, carp, perch, gudgeon, kelpfish, goldfish, shrimp, crabs, mussels, scallops, lobsters, sea horses

(

Bruintjes

et al. 2017;

Buscaino

et al. 2010;

Celi

et al. 2016;

Day et al. 2017; Filiciotto et al. 2016; Fitzgibbon et al. 2017;

Graham and Cooke 2008;

Lagardère

1982; Nichols et al. 2015;

Régnault

&

Lagardère

1983;

Santulli

et al. 1999

; Sierra-Flores et al. 2015; Smith et al. 2004; Spiga et al. 2016; Wale et al. 2013; Wale et al. 2016;

Wysocki et al. 2006

)

Cortisol increased 81%-120% in fish species with shipping noise playback

(Wysocki et al. 2006)

Impacts of Noise on Invertebrates & Fish

Slide27

Sea bream moved more, showed stress and intense metabolic activity, with less energy for feeding, migration, reproduction with vessel noise

(Buscaino et al. 2010;

Celi

et al. 2016)

Sea bream increased their oxygen uptake, implying higher stress levels, with pile driving noise

(

Bruintjes

et al. 2017).

Impacts of Noise on Fish

Slide28

Tuna schooling lost aggregated structure, became uncoordinated, aggressive, with vessel noise

Can affect homing accuracy of migration to spawning and feeding grounds

(Sara et al. 2007).

Long-term abundance of blue whiting and other mesopelagic fish higher outside seismic shooting area than inside, deeper

(

Slotte

et al. 2004).

Fish in MPA responded to boat noise as to predator attack

(La Manna et al. 2016),

decreased nest-caring

(

Picciulin

et al. 2010),

feeding

(

Bracciali

et al. 2012),

and ability to defend territory

(

Sebastianutto

et al. 2011),

caused masking

(

Codarin

et al. 2009)

and more calling (Picciulin et al. 2012).

Impacts of Noise on Fish (cont’d.)

Slide29

Noise Reduces Catch and Abundance of Commercially Important Fish

Trawl catch rates of cod (A) & haddock (B) B (solid), D (striped), A (gray) seismic, by distance (nm) from seismic

Total quantity of cod and haddock by mass B (solid), D (striped), A (gray) seismic

5 days after seismic:

Commercial trawl cod catch↓69%

Longline cod catch ↓45%

Longline haddock catch ↓67%

↓ 52% in CPUE for rockfish hook-and-line fishery

50% average economic loss

Engås

et al. (1996),

Skalski

et al. 1992

Slide30

Hassel et al. 2004

Slide31

5500 sq. km represented

Before

During

After

In seismic shooting

area (5.5x18.5 km):

Trawl catches

of haddock and cod

and longline of

haddock

reduced by 70%

Fish abundance,

catch rates

didn’t return to

pre-seismic levels

5 days after

seismic shooting

stopped

Engås

et al. 1996

Slide32

SummaryMost marine fauna very dependent on sound102+ fish and invertebrate species shown to be impactedImpacts include decreased growth, body condition, feeding, reproduction, abundance, immune competency, nutritional condition, catch rates, school coordination and structure, nest-caring, territory defense.

Noise caused permanently damaged ears and sensory organs, developmental delays and malformations, and increased stress, metabolism, masking, and mortalityImpacts extend beyond individual species to include communities of species and how they interact, compromising ecosystem productivity, and ecological services (sediment mixing, nutrient cycling) with commercial consequences