Mapping the Southern Residents

1
Mapping the Southern Residents Acoustic Habitat

• Increasing awareness of anthropogenic noise
• Brett Becker
• Bellingham, Washington

2
Recent studies on sound in the marine environment

• Significant amount of research is being done
  attempting to characterize human made marine
  noise and its effects on sea creatures.
• Workshop on the Effects of Anthropogenic Noise in
  the Marine Environment (Gisner 1998)
• Oceans of Noise A Whale Dolphin Conservation
  report (Simmonds, Dolman Weilgart 2004)

3
What is Anthropogenic noise?

• Human pollution of the acoustic environment is on
  the rise in recent decades.
• Industrial noise.
• Noise ordinance laws reflect general cultural
  dissatisfaction with increased levels of noise
  pollution.
• What else do humans have to add?

4
Interactive research

• Peter Beamish
• Rhythm Based Communication (RBC)
• Jim Nolman
• Music as a means to inter-species communication
• David Dunn
• Humans are a part of the larger eco-systemic
  mental structure

5
Effects of noise on humans

• Increased stress hormones
• Higher blood pressure
• Learned helplessness
• Masking

6
Sound in water

• Sound travels 5 times as fast in water than in
  air
• Electromagnetic waves like light do not travel
  well in water
• Underwater organisms rely on sound waves the way
  we do light waves.

7
Passive use of sound by marine fauna

• Detection of predators
• location and detection of prey.
• Proximity perception of co-species in school
• Perception of changing environmental conditions
• Acoustic illumination akin to daylight vision

8
Active use of sound by marine fauna

• Communication with co-species for breeding and
  feeding.
• Territorial and social relations
• Echolocation
• Stunning and apprehending prey
• Alarm calls
• Long distance navigation
• Defense

9
Sources of anthropogenic noise

• Vessel traffic (tankers, cargo, fishing, whale
  watching, recreational)
• single largest contributor to the total acoustic
  budget of the ocean (Gisner 1998)
• Other sources
• Sonar
• Seismic surveys
• Drilling, Pile Driving
• Explosions

10
attempts to map noise

• Tend to visual orientation
• Tend to limit focus to physical properties
  properties of sound (intensity, frequency)
• Limits
• Easily forgotten
• Over simplification

11
frequency map
12
Loudness map
13
New tools for a new day

• Listening is important
• Provides direction experience
• Presents whole acoustic ecosystem
• Internet satellite GPS
• Help create global village

14
Puget Soundscape map

• Integrates actual recordings
• Locates recordings in GPS coordinates
• Available for all anthros with internet
• Allows for further recordings to be added

15
the process

• Utilized all recordings made by crew
• Files selection technique
• sample as microcosm
• 30 seconds
• mp3 compression
• Google Maps API

16
The map

• http//homepage.mac.com/brettbecker/soundscape/pug
  etsoundscape.html

17
What i heard

• There is a massive amount of boat noise out there
• It is monotonous
• Low information content
• People are unaware of or have grown apathetic of
  noise pollution

18
The message hope

• Increases global awareness of marine noise
• public awareness noise ordinance?
• Remember the other higher life forms
• Listen more
• What are we contributing to global chorus?