Cumulative noise exposure assessment for marine mammals using sound exposure level as a metric.

Pay-walled Peer Reviewed Publication 2009

National Physical Research Laboratory.

Theobald, P., Lepper, P., Robinson, S. and Hazelwood, D.
Sound exposure level (SEL) has been suggested as an important parameter when considering the impact of anthropogenic noise on marine mammals by the US Marine Mammal Criteria Group of the NMFS. This metric allows the cumulative exposure of an animal to a sound field for an extended period to be assessed against a predefined threshold for injury criteria. In many cases, this can become the dominant mechanism by which a marine mammal may suffer injury. In this paper, the SEL metric has been used to estimate the cumulative exposure of animals using two examples of sound sources: (i) a large tanker vessel; and (ii) sub-sea marine impact piling. The method has been used in a predictive manner using models for noise sources, and also using measured data of the noise radiated by the source. The method can be used to investigate the effect on the cumulative exposure of factors such as source level, transmission loss model and animal behaviour.

Link To Publication

Keywords: Cumulative noise, Marine mammals, Sound Exposure Level

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