The Davis Strait - DCE - Nationalt Center for Miljø og Energi

134
toothed whales use higher frequencies (80 Hz-130 kHz) to produce tonal
sounds for communication, and echolocation clicks used for communication
and to gain detailed information about objects ahead of the animal by listening
to the reflected echoes (Mellinger et al. 2007). An overview of the frequencies
used by the cetaceans present in the assessment area is given in table
4.8.1 and figure 4.8.6.
For the reasons explained above, hearing and sound production are vital for
cetaceans and they can be affected by human made noise, including the
sounds produced by hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities.
Potential effects from anthropogenic sound include behavioural changes
(e.g. avoidance of the area or disruption of feeding), physical damage (mainly
to auditory organs) and masking (obscuring of sounds of interest to the
animal by interfering sounds). The sensitivity of cetaceans to anthropogenic
sounds from hydrocarbon exploration and development activities is discussed
in detail in chapter 10. Cetaceans are also sensitive to oil spills and
this is discussed in chapter 11.
Table 4.8.1. The frequency range of the most commonly used sound types of cetaceans in the assessment area. The frequency
range is given by the minimum and maximum frequencies in Hz
Species Latin
Odontocetes
Sound
type
Min
freq. (Hz)
Max
freq. (Hz) References
Harbour porpoise Phocoena phocoena Click 120,000 150,000 (Villadsgaard et al. 2007)
White beaked dolphin Lagenorhynchus albirostris Click 75,000 250,000 (Rasmussen & Miller 2002)
Whistle 3,000 35,000 (Rasmussen & Miller 2002)
Long-finned pilot whale Globicephala melas Click 4,100 95,000 (Eskesen et al. 2011)
Whistle 260 20,000 (Rendell & Gordon 1999)
Narwhal Monodon monoceros Click 24,000 95,000 (Miller et al. 1995)
Whistle 300 18,000 (Ford & Fisher 1978)
Beluga Delphinapterus leucas Click 46,600 112,600 (Au et al. 1985)
Whistle 1,400 14,000 (Belikov & Bel’kovich 2006, 2007)
Killer whale Orcinus orca Click 30,000 100,000 (Simon et al. 2007)
Whist-
le/call 1,500 18,000 (Ford 1989, Thomsen et al. 2001)
N. bottlenose whale Hyperoodon ampullatus Click 2,000 26,000 (Hooker & Whitehead 2002)
Sperm whale Physeter macrocephalus Click 5,000 24,000 (Madsen et al. 2002)
Mysticetes
Minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata Call / song 80 800 (Mellinger et al. 2000)
Sei whale Balaenoptera borealis Call / song 30 400 (Rankin & Barlow 2007)
Humpback whale Megaptera novaeangliae Call / song 35 24,000 (Payne & Payne 1985)
Fin whale Balaenoptera physalus Call / song 15 30 (Watkins et al. 1987)
Blue whale Balaenoptera musculus Call / song 14 20 (Cummings & Thompson 1971)
Bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus Call / song 100 5,000 (Ljungblad et al. 1982)