Ocean seismic survey impacts on the movement and distribution of nearshore temperate marine species

2021年夏季，美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）在俄勒冈州、华盛顿州和不列颠哥伦比亚省附近的卡斯卡迪亚俯冲带（Cascadia subducation Zone）进行了一项地震调查，在大约两个月的时间里使用了气枪。这一活动为研究重要的近岸鱼类和无脊椎动物物种对这种声音景观改变事件的潜在反应提供了一个新的机会。随着海洋从长期和离散的声音中变得越来越嘈杂，有必要了解这些事件如何改变被管理和保护的动物的行为。项目科学家于2021年5月至9月期间在俄勒冈州奥福德港红鱼岩海洋保护区附近收集了动物行为信息和声学数据。三维动物行为数据是通过声学跟踪装置测量的，该装置被植入了几种鱼类以及附着在邓杰内斯蟹身上。使用被动式声学监测设备测量海洋声音，该设备部署在被标记动物附近的海底。在该项目5个月的数据收集期内获得的信息，将为增加的人造噪音如何影响近岸海洋保护区的动物提供新的信息。更重要的是，它支持了解海洋声景的广泛兴趣，并将为海洋资源和渔业管理，包括商业渔业和基本鱼类栖息地，提供直接相关的信息。项目结果将对未来的地震调查非常重要，并可以扩展到了解即将到来的海上建设活动（如海上风电开发）的担忧。这项工作将继续寻求社区与教育工作者、监管机构和来自奥福德港的当地渔民的参与，后者协助跟踪动物以及部署和回收监测设备。项目结果将在公共活动中分享，以吸引俄勒冈海岸的社区，包括哈特菲尔德海洋科学中心的海洋科学日和奥福德港海洋实验室开放日。该项目还将为研究生提供STEM（科学、技术、工程和数学）领域的研究培训，包括声景和动物运动分析。几乎所有在开阔海洋和浅水环境中对气枪测量声影响的研究都集中在声传播的压力分量上；很少有人关注伴随声音传播的粒子运动，而许多动物对这种运动很敏感。此外，目前评估声音对水生生物影响的监管指南主要是根据声压来描述听力阈值。因此，同时考虑声压级和粒子运动进行研究是很重要的。该项目使用声波粒子运动传感器NoiseSpotter(R)阵列同时测量地震勘测活动的粒子运动和压力成分，同时使用声波遥测技术测量与珊瑚礁相关的鱼类和螃蟹对地震勘测的行为反应。这些测量将支持对项目假设的测试，即对高强度声脉冲的反应取决于海洋物种的习性（海底或远洋）和形态/生理学（例如，缺少[鳕鱼，螃蟹]或存在和类型的鱼鳔）。加速度计标签数据将用于评估与地震调查中单个脉冲事件相关的位置和方向的变化率，包括但不限于物种内和物种间标记个体的同步响应，活动预算成分的比较，习惯化和地理活动中心。动物行为将在NoiseSpotter(R)声压和粒子运动数据的背景下进行评估，这些数据将分析声源，声级，累积暴露水平，频谱概率密度和生态系统范围的指标（例如，声学复杂性指数，声学丰富度指数）。由于地震调查在俄勒冈州的Redfish Rocks海洋保护区范围内进行了三次，因此项目团队有一个统计上可靠的机会来评估地震调查活动之前、期间和之后的声景和动物行为。这个项目的新结果将促进对近岸环境中声音传播的能量学和动物对大声、脉冲噪声的反应的理解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A National Science Foundation- funded seismic survey occurred in summer 2021 along the Cascadia Subduction Zone off Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia, employing the use of airguns over a period of about 2 months. This activity presented a novel opportunity to investigate the potential responses of important nearshore fish and invertebrate species to this soundscape-altering event. As the oceans become ever noisier from both chronic and discrete sounds, there is a need to understand how these events may alter the behavior of animals that are managed and conserved. Project scientists collected animal behavior information and acoustic data near Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve, Port Orford, Oregon between May and September 2021. Three-dimensional animal behavior data were measured using acoustic tracking devices that were implanted in several fish species as well as attached to Dungeness crab. Ocean sounds were measured using passive acoustic monitoring equipment that was deployed on the seafloor near the tagged animals. The information obtained over the project’s 5-month data collection period will provide new information on how increased man-made noises can affect animals in nearshore marine reserves. More so, it supports broad interests in understanding marine soundscapes, and will provide directly relevant information to marine resources and fisheries management, including for commercial fisheries and essential fish habitat. Project results will be important to future seismic surveys and can be extended to understanding concerns about upcoming offshore construction activities such as for offshore wind development. This work will continue to seek community engagement with educators, regulators, and local fishermen from Port Orford, the latter of whom assisted in the tracking of animals as well as deployment and retrieval of the monitoring equipment. Project findings will be shared at public events to engage communities along the Oregon coast, including Marine Science Day at Hatfield Marine Science Center and the Port Orford Marine Laboratory Open House. This project will also provide graduate student research training in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, including soundscape and animal movement analyses.Virtually all studies of airgun survey sound impacts in both open ocean and shallow-water environments focus on the pressure component of sound propagation; few have focused on the particle motion that accompanies the transmission of the sound to which many animals have sensitivity. Additionally, current regulatory guidelines to assess the effects of sound on aquatic life largely describe hearing thresholds in terms of sound pressure. It is therefore important to conduct studies considering both sound pressure level and particle motion. This project simultaneously measured the particle motion and pressure components of the seismic survey activity using the NoiseSpotter(R), an acoustic particle motion sensor array, while measuring behavioral responses of reef associated fishes and crab to seismic surveys using acoustic telemetry technology. These measurements will support testing of the project hypothesis that responses to high-intensity acoustic pulses depend on the habit (demersal or pelagic) and morphology/physiology (e.g., absence [lingcod, crab] or presence and type of swim bladder) of marine species. Accelerometer tag data will be used to assess rate of change in position and direction associated with individual pulse events from the seismic survey, including, but not limited to synchrony-in-response across tagged individuals within and across species, comparison of activity budget components, habituation, and geographic activity centers. Animal behavior will be evaluated in the context of NoiseSpotter(R) acoustic pressure and particle motion data, which will be analyzed for sound source, sound levels, cumulative exposure levels, spectral probability densities, and ecosystem-wide metrics (e.g., acoustic complexity index, acoustic richness index). Because the seismic survey made triplicate passes within range of Oregon’s Redfish Rocks Marine Reserve, the project team has a statistically robust opportunity to assess the soundscape and animal behavior before, multiple times during, and after seismic survey activity. The novel results of this project will advance understanding of the energetics of acoustic propagation in nearshore environments and the responses of animals to loud, impulsive noises.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.