Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada.
Department of Geography, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, St. John's, NL A1B 3X9, Canada.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2018 Nov;136:177-200. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.08.050. Epub 2018 Sep 14.
This study assesses vessel-noise exposure levels for Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) in the Salish Sea. Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) was used to delineate SRKW summer core areas. Those areas were combined with the output of a regional cumulative noise model describing sound level variations generated by commercial vessels (1/3-octave-bands from 10 Hz to 63.1 kHz). Cumulative distribution functions were used to evaluate SRKW's noise exposure from 15 vessel categories over three zones located within the KDE. Median cumulative noise values were used to group categories based on the associated exposure levels. Ferries, Tugboats, Vehicle Carriers, Recreational Vessels, Containers, and Bulkers showed high levels of exposure (L > 90 dB re 1 μPa) within SRKW core areas. Management actions aiming at reducing SRKW noise exposure during the summer should target the abovementioned categories and take into consideration the spatial distribution of their levels of exposure, their mechanical and their operational characteristics.
本研究评估了在萨利希海（Salish Sea）中南部居留鲸（Southern Resident Killer Whales，SRKW）的船只噪声暴露水平。核密度估计（Kernel Density Estimation，KDE）用于划定 SRKW 夏季核心区域。将这些区域与描述商业船只产生的声级变化的区域累积噪声模型的输出（1/3 倍频带从 10 Hz 到 63.1 kHz）相结合。累积分布函数用于评估在 KDE 内的三个区域内的 15 种船只类别对 SRKW 的噪声暴露。中位数累积噪声值用于根据相关暴露水平对类别进行分组。渡轮、拖船、车辆运输船、娱乐船只、集装箱船和散货船在 SRKW 核心区域内显示出高水平的暴露（L > 90 dB 重 1 μPa）。旨在减少夏季 SRKW 噪声暴露的管理措施应针对上述类别，并考虑其暴露水平的空间分布、机械和操作特性。
