Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St. Andrews, Fife KY 16 8LB, United Kingdom; SMRU Marine, New Technology Centre, North Haugh, St Andrews KY 16 9SR, United Kingdom.
Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2014 Feb 15;79(1-2):205-10. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2013.12.013. Epub 2014 Jan 17.
The use of high frequency sonar is now commonplace in the marine environment. Most marine mammals rely on sound to navigate, and for detecting prey, and there is the potential that the acoustic signals of sonar could cause behavioral responses. To investigate this, we carried out behavioral response tests with grey seals to two sonar systems (200 and 375 kHz systems). Results showed that both systems had significant effects on the seals behavior; when the 200 kHz sonar was active, seals spent significantly more time hauled out and, although seals remained swimming during operation of the 375 kHz sonar, they were distributed further from the sonar. The results show that although peak sonar frequencies may be above marine mammal hearing ranges, high levels of sound can be produced within their hearing ranges that elicit behavioral responses; this has clear implications for the widespread use of sonar in the marine environment.
高频声纳在海洋环境中现在已经很常见。大多数海洋哺乳动物依靠声音来导航和探测猎物，而声纳的声信号有可能引起行为反应。为了研究这一问题，我们对灰海豹进行了两种声纳系统（200 和 375 kHz 系统）的行为反应测试。结果表明，这两种系统都对海豹的行为有显著影响；当 200 kHz 声纳工作时，海豹在浮出水面的时间显著增加，尽管在 375 kHz 声纳工作时海豹仍在游泳，但它们分布在远离声纳的地方。结果表明，尽管声纳的峰值频率可能高于海洋哺乳动物的听觉范围，但在它们的听觉范围内仍能产生引起行为反应的高强度声音；这对声纳在海洋环境中的广泛应用有明显的影响。
