Abstract
This chapter presents an overview of physical and acoustic behavioral responses of marine mammals to underwater sounds. A literature review was undertaken, and data on received levels at the animal when certain types of responses were observed were compiled in an online supplementary spreadsheet. Based on this, an overview of responses was written, organized first by species and then by sound type. In-air and underwater sound sources were considered. The most studied sound types were mid-frequency sonar and acoustic deterrent devices and then impact pile driving and vessels. The most frequently reported response was avoidance, followed by changes in swim speed and surface-respiration-dive behavior. However, no response was the second most common observation, after avoidance. Easily accessible coastal or captive species (i.e., harbor porpoises, bottlenose dolphins, and humpback whales) have been comparatively well studied. There has been great variability in study design, response observation and classification, received level derivation and unit, as well as (statistical) analyses. Given the different environments, contexts, populations, and individuals that have been studied, it is not surprising that great variability has been reported in minimum received levels at which behavioral responses were observed, more than 50 dB for the most studied species and sound type combinations.
Document Type
Book Chapter
Date of Publication
1-1-2025
Publication Title
Marine Mammal Acoustics in a Noisy Ocean
Publisher
Springer
School
Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research / School of Science
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
First Page
611
Last Page
698
Comments
Erbe, C., Bowles, A., Houser, D., Jolliffe, C., Madhusudhana, S., Marley, S. A., Salas, A. R., Salgado-Kent, C., Schoeman, R., Senigaglia, V., Tollefsen, C., Trigg, L., & Wellard, R. (2025). Behavioral responses to underwater noise. In Marine Mammal Acoustics in a Noisy Ocean (pp. 611–698). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-77022-7_10