Abstract
Passive acoustic recordings made in Fowlers Bay, South Australia, during the austral winter of 2013–2017 revealed the presence of several sources of underwater sound. Sound sources of biological origin include baleen and toothed whales, fish and shrimp. Physical sources of underwater sound include wind- and rain-driven noises, and underwater sounds of anthropogenic origin were primarily from boats and occasionally from an aircraft. Biological sound sources were commonly recorded within the frequency range of around 25 Hz to nearly 17 kHz, with baleen whales within the range of ~ 25 Hz to 6 kHz, and dolphins at higher frequencies of approximately 2.5–17 kHz. Broadband sounds from physical and anthropogenic sound sources were noticeable at frequencies above ~ 50 Hz. The ambient noise level in Fowlers Bay at frequencies below 100 Hz was relatively low (around 75 dB re 1 µPa2/Hz for the 95% percentile) due to an insignificant contribution of noise from distant shipping. At higher frequencies, the noise level was governed primarily by noise from wind and varied by nearly 30 dB re 1 µPa2/Hz depending on weather conditions, up to around 80 dB re 1 µPa2/Hz for the 95% percentile during periods of strong winds and intense rainfall.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bannister, J.L.: Great whales, pp. 37–40. CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood (2008)
Nosal, E.-M.: Methods for tracking multiple marine mammals with wide-baseline passive acoustic arrays. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134, 2383–2392 (2012)
Erbe, C.: Underwater passive acoustic monitoring & noise impacts on marine fauna—a workshop report. Acoust. Aust. 41, 113–119 (2013)
Mellinger, D., Barlow, J.: Future Directions for Marine Mammal Acoustic Surveys: Stock Assessment and Habitat Use, NOAA OAR Special Report, NOAA/PMEL Contribution No. 2557, La Jolla, CA (November 20–22, 2002) (2003)
Wellard, R., Erbe, C., Fouda, L., Blewitt, M.: Vocalisations of Killer whales (Orcinus orca) in the Bremer Canyon, Western Australia. PLoS ONE 10(9), e0136535 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0136535
Ward, R., Parnum, I., Erbe, C., Salgado-Kent, C.: Whistle characteristics of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) in the Fremantle Inner Harbour, Western Australia. Acoust. Aust. 44, 159–169 (2016)
Salgado Kent, C.P., Gavrilov, A.N., Recalde-Salas, A., Burton, C.L.K., McCauley, R.D., Marley, S.: Passive acoustic monitoring of baleen whales in Geographe Bay, Western Australia. In: Proceedings of the Acoustic 2012 Conference of the Australian Acoustical Society, Fremantle, Western Australia (November 21–23) (2012)
Edds-Walton, P.L.: Acoustic communication signals of mysticete whales. Bioacoustics 8, 47–60 (1997)
Elliot, R.G., Dawson, S.M., Henderson, S.: Acoustic monitoring of habitat use by bottlenose dolphins in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. N. Z. J. Mar. Fresh. 45(4), 637–649 (2011)
McCauley, R.D., Cato, D.H.: Evening choruses in the Perth Canyon and their potential link with Myctophidae fishes. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 140, 2384 (2016)
Ward, R., Gavrilov, A.N., McCauley, R.D.: “Spot” call: a common sound from an unidentified great whale in Australian temperate waters. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 142, EL231 (2017)
Hilderbrand, J.A.: Anthropogenic and natural sources of ambient noise in the ocean. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 395, 5–20 (2009)
Cato, D.H.: Shipping Noise Impacts on Marine Life. Paper presented at the Inter-noise Conference 2014, Melbourne, Australia 16–19 November (2014)
Rogers, P.J., Ward, T.M., van Ruth, P.D., Williams, A., Bruce, B.D., Connell, S.D., Currie, D.R., Davies, C.R., Evans, K., Gillanders, B.M., Goldsworthy, S.D., Griffin, D.A., Hardman-Mountford, N.J., Ivey, A.R., Kloser, R.J., Middleton, J.K., Richardson, A.E., Ross, A., Tanner, J.E., Young, J.: Physical processes, biodiversity and ecology of the Great Australian Bight region: a literature review. CSIRO, Australia (2013)
Kemper, C., Ling, J.: Whale strandings in South Australia (1881–1989). Trans. R. Soc. S. Aust. 115, 37–52 (1991)
Kemper, C., Flaherty, A., Gibbs, S., Hill, M., Long, M., Byard, R.: Cetacean captures, strandings and mortalities in South Australia 1881–2000, with special reference to human interactions. Aust. Mammal. 27(1), 37–47 (2005)
International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and Marine Conservation Research Limited: Final Report for a Survey of Cetaceans in the Eastern Great Australian Bight 26th April–8th May 2013 (2013). Available at http://www.marineconservationresearch.co.uk/wp-content/Downloads/IFAW%20MCR%20Final%20Report%20-%202013%20Survey%20of%20cetaceans%20in%20the%20eastern%20GAB%20Australia.pdf. Last viewed 7/09/2018
Bannister, J.L.: Status of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off Australia. J. Cetac. Res. Manag. 2(Special Issue), 103–110 (2001)
Burnell, S.R.: Aspects of the reproductive biology, movements and site fidelity of right whales off Australia. J. Cetac. Res. Manag. 2(Special Issue), 89–102 (2001)
Pirzl, R.: Spatial Ecology of Eubalaena australis: Habitat Selection at Multiple Scales. PhD Thesis, Deakin University, Melbourne (2008)
Charlton, C.M.: Southern Right Whale (Eubalaena australis) Population Demographics in Southern Australia. PhD Thesis, Curtin University, Western Australia (2017)
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities: Conservation Management Plan for the Southern Right Whale: A Recovery Plan Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (2011–2021) (2012). Available at http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/4b8c7f35-e132-401c-85be-6a34c61471dc/files/e-australis-2011-2021.pdf. Last viewed 15/01/2018
Kemper, C.M., Samson, C.R.: Southern right whale remains from 19th century whaling at Fowler Bay, South Australia. Rec. S. Aust. Mus. 32(2), 155–172 (1999)
Bannister, J.L.: Notes on nineteenth century catches of southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) off the southern coasts of Western Australia. Rep. Int. Whal. Comm. 10(Special Issue), 255–259 (1986)
Dawbin, W.H.: Right whales caught in waters around south eastern Australia and New Zealand during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Int. Whal. Comm. Doc. 10(Special Issue), 261–267 (1986)
Charlton, C.M., Ward. R.: Southern Right Whale Research and Monitoring in the Great Australian Bight, South Australia 2017 Field Report. Curtin University, Western Australia (2018)
Ward, T.M., McLeay, L.J., Rogers, P.L.: Benthic Protected Zone of the Great Australian Bight Marine Park: 2. Monitoring Sustainable-Use. Report to National Parks and Wildlife South Australia (NPWS) and the Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH). South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Australia (2003)
McCauley, R.D., Cato, D.H., Duncan, A.J.: Regional variations and trends in ambient noise: examples from Australian waters. In: Popper, A.N., Hawkins, A. (ed.) The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life II. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. Springer, New York (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8. ISSN 2214-8019
McCauley, R.D., Thomas, F., Gavrilov, A.N., Duncan, A.J., Cato, D., Parsons, M., Parnum, I.M., Salgado-Kent, C., Erbe, C.: A history of recording underwater sound around Australia and the Curtin Underwater Sound Recorder hardware: a researchers’ perspective. Acoust. Aust. 45(2), 301–311 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40857-017-0113-8
Gavrilov, A.N., Parsons, M.J.G.: A Matlab tool for the characterisation of recorded underwater sound (CHORUS). Acoust. Aust. 42, 190–196 (2014)
Merchant, N.D., Barton, T.R., Thompson, P.M., Pirotta, E., Dakin, D.T., Dorocicz, D.: Spectral probability density as a tool for ambient noise analysis. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 133, EL262–EL267 (2013)
Clark, C.W.: The acoustic repertoire of the southern right whale, a quantitative analysis. Anim. Behav. 30, 1060–1071 (1982)
Webster, T.A., Dawson, S.M., Rayment, W.J., Parks, S.E., Van Parijs, S.M.: Quantitative analysis of the acoustic repertoire of southern right whales in New Zealand. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 140(1), 322–333 (2016)
Cato, D.H., Bell, M.J.: Ultrasonic Ambient Noise in Australian Shallow Waters at Frequencies up to 200 kHz. MRL Technical Report MRL-TR-91-23, Materials Research Laboratory, Australia (1992)
Leroy, E.C., Samaran, F., Bonnel, J., Royer, J.-Y.: Identification of two potential whale calls in the southern Indian Ocean, and their geographic and seasonal occurrence. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 142, 1413–1427 (2017)
Dréo, R., Bouffaut, L., Leroy, E., Barrouel, G., Samaran, F.: Baleen whale distribution and seasonal occurrence revealed by an ocean bottom seismometer network in the western Indian Ocean. Deep-Sea Res. II (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2018.04.005
Erbe, C., Verma, A., McCauley, R., Gavrilov, A., Parnum, I.: The marine soundscape of the Perth Canyon. Prog. Oceanogr. 137, 38–51 (2015)
Charlton, C.M., Ward, R., McCauley, R.: Southern right whale research and monitoring in the Great Australian Bight, South Australia Field Report 2014 & 2015. Curtin University, Western Australia (2016)
Kemper, C.M.: Records of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae in South Australia. Trans. R. Soc. S. Aust. 129(1), 53–58 (2005)
Au, W.W.L.: The sonar of dolphins. Springer, New York (1993)
McCauley, R.D.: Fish choruses from the Kimberley, seasonal and lunar links as determined by long term sea noise monitoring. In: Proceedings of the Australian Acoustical Society, Fremantle, 21–23 Nov 2012 (2012)
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the Curtin University Great Australian Bight Right Whale Study for collection of the data presented in this paper. Thanks to Mal Parry and Dave Minchin of CMST, Curtin University, for assistance in setting up recorders and associated equipment. An additional thanks to Curtin University for in-kind support during the field seasons. Rod and Simone Keogh at Eyre Peninsula Eco Tours provided invaluable in-kind support, vessel use and assistance, and without them this research would not have gone ahead—thank you. Funding for the 2014–2017 field seasons was provided by Murphy Australia Oil Pty. Ltd. and Santos Ltd., with additional funding provided by Karoon Gas in 2017. A funding grant was provided by the Australian Acoustical Society WA Division to conduct field work in 2016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ward, R., McCauley, R.D., Gavrilov, A.N. et al. Underwater Sound Sources and Ambient Noise in Fowlers Bay, South Australia, during the Austral Winter. Acoust Aust 47, 21–32 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40857-019-00150-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40857-019-00150-9