An Assessment of the Soundscape West of the Svalbard Islands

Abstract

Abstract A climatic shift is driving the Arctic Ocean toward an “Atlantification” process. This phenomenon might turn the future Arctic into an ice‐free Ocean and affect its soundscape. Measurements of ambient noise are scarce in the eastern Arctic, so we present a comparison of data from two locations west of the Svalbard Islands; one near Molloy Deep and the other on the Svalbard continental slope. Soundscape levels were lower in the summer months, with seasonal occurrence of fin whale vocalizations that increased the levels around 20 Hz in the fall/winter months. Seismic airgun noise was detected seasonally in the summer. Wind forcing also played an important role, elevating the sound levels in the 100–10000 Hz band at both locations. Finally, the distance from the ice edge had a negative correlation with sounds levels. Ice drift and concentration were not correlated to the overall sound levels.

Keywords

• soundscape
• arctic ocean
• climate change
• ambient noise
• marine acoustics
• sea ice