Monitoring of Caged Bluefin Tuna Reactions to Ship and Offshore Wind Farm Operational Noises
Vicente Puig-Pons,
Ester Soliveres,
Isabel Pérez-Arjona,
Victor Espinosa,
Pedro Poveda-Martínez,
Jaime Ramis-Soriano,
Patricia Ordoñez-Cebrián,
Marek Moszyński,
Fernando de la Gándara,
Manuel Bou-Cabo,
José L. Cort,
Eladio Santaella
Affiliations
Vicente Puig-Pons
Intitut d’Investigació per a la Gestió Integrada de Zones Costaneres, Universitat Politécnica de València, C/Paranimf 1, Grau de Gandia, 46730 València, Spain
Ester Soliveres
Intitut d’Investigació per a la Gestió Integrada de Zones Costaneres, Universitat Politécnica de València, C/Paranimf 1, Grau de Gandia, 46730 València, Spain
Isabel Pérez-Arjona
Intitut d’Investigació per a la Gestió Integrada de Zones Costaneres, Universitat Politécnica de València, C/Paranimf 1, Grau de Gandia, 46730 València, Spain
Victor Espinosa
Intitut d’Investigació per a la Gestió Integrada de Zones Costaneres, Universitat Politécnica de València, C/Paranimf 1, Grau de Gandia, 46730 València, Spain
Pedro Poveda-Martínez
Institut Universitari de Física Aplicada a les Ciències i les Tecnologies, Universitat d’Alacant, Ap. de Correus 99, 03080 Alacant, Spain
Jaime Ramis-Soriano
Institut Universitari de Física Aplicada a les Ciències i les Tecnologies, Universitat d’Alacant, Ap. de Correus 99, 03080 Alacant, Spain
Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics, Politechnika Gdańska, Gabriela Narutowicza 11/12, 80233 Gdańsk, Poland
Fernando de la Gándara
Unidad Mixta de Investigación en Tecnología para Estudios Marinos IEO-UPV (UTEM), Muelle Frutero, Port de Gandia, Grau de Gandia, 46730 València, Spain
Manuel Bou-Cabo
Unidad Mixta de Investigación en Tecnología para Estudios Marinos IEO-UPV (UTEM), Muelle Frutero, Port de Gandia, Grau de Gandia, 46730 València, Spain
José L. Cort
Unidad Mixta de Investigación en Tecnología para Estudios Marinos IEO-UPV (UTEM), Muelle Frutero, Port de Gandia, Grau de Gandia, 46730 València, Spain
Eladio Santaella
Unidad Mixta de Investigación en Tecnología para Estudios Marinos IEO-UPV (UTEM), Muelle Frutero, Port de Gandia, Grau de Gandia, 46730 València, Spain
Underwater noise has been identified as a relevant pollution affecting marine ecosystems in different ways. Despite the numerous studies performed over the last few decades regarding the adverse effect of underwater noise on marine life, a lack of knowledge and methodological procedures still exists, and results are often tentative or qualitative. A monitoring methodology for the behavioral response of bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) when exposed to ship and wind turbine operational noises was implemented and tested in a fixed commercial tuna feeding cage in the Mediterranean sea. Fish behavior was continuously monitored, combining synchronized echosounder and video recording systems. Automatic information extracted from acoustical echograms was used to describe tuna reaction to noise in terms of average depth and vertical dimensions of the school and the indicators of swimming speed and tilt direction. Video recordings allowed us to detect changes in swimming patterns. Different kinds of stimuli were considered during bluefin tuna cage monitoring, such as noise generated by feeding boats, wind farm operational noise, and other synthetic signals projected in the medium using a broadband underwater projector. The monitoring system design was revealed as a successful methodological approach to record and quantify reactions to noise. The obtained results suggested that the observed reactions presented a strong relationship with insonification pressure level and time. Behavioral changes associated with noise are difficult to observe, especially in semi-free conditions; thus, the presented approach offered the opportunity to link anthropogenic activity with possible effects on a given marine species, suggesting the possibility of achieving a more realistic framework to assess the impacts of underwater noise on marine animals.
