Oceans of noise - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
Oceans of noise - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
Oceans of noise - Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society
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• The dolphins started to display evasive manoeuvres when the boat was more than 11km fromthe group.Ref: Au <strong>and</strong> Perryman 1982.Species type: Baird’s beaked whale, Berardius bairdiiLocation: Tokyo Bay, Japan.• It was suggested that postwar decreases in Baird’s beaked whale, Berardius bairdii, catchesin Tokyo Bay were the result <strong>of</strong> increased boat traffic <strong>and</strong> changes in the distribution <strong>of</strong> thesespecies. However, the declines in numbers <strong>of</strong> this whale species may have been due to theimpacts <strong>of</strong> commercial whaling rather than to the effects <strong>of</strong> boat traffic.Ref: Nishiwaki <strong>and</strong> Sasao 1977.Species type: Sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalusLocation: Whaling grounds• Sperm whales in whaling areas began to react to the presence <strong>of</strong> a vessel from a distance <strong>of</strong>15km.Ref: Gambell 1968.Humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliaeLocation: Australia• As a rule <strong>of</strong> thumb, doubling the speed <strong>of</strong> a vessel doubled the range over which whalesdetected or first reacted to it?. The response was as much a function <strong>of</strong> the rate <strong>of</strong> change <strong>of</strong> <strong>noise</strong>as its steady level.• Rapid increases in <strong>noise</strong> produced more responses.Ref: McCauley <strong>and</strong> Cato, 2001.Location: US• The acoustic pr<strong>of</strong>iles <strong>of</strong> several whale-watching boats <strong>and</strong> the responses <strong>of</strong> humpbackwhales to them were studied, with the loudest vessels producing the strongest reactionsfrom the whales.• Whilst they concluded that the <strong>noise</strong> caused by the whale-watching boats as long as theyobeyed the US “st<strong>and</strong>-<strong>of</strong>f distance” <strong>of</strong> 91 m should not cause any harm to the auditorysystems <strong>of</strong> the whales they noted that “the ramifications <strong>of</strong> behavioural changes inducedby the presence <strong>of</strong> boats are open to assessment”.Ref: Au <strong>and</strong> Green 2000.Location: Trinity Bay, Newfoundl<strong>and</strong>, Canada.148