Abstract
Military sonars are known to have caused cetaceans to strand. Navies in shallow seas use different frequencies and sonar pulses, commonly frequencies between 25 and 100 kHz, compared with most studied NATO sonar systems that have been evaluated for their environmental impact. These frequencies match the frequencies of best hearing in the harbor porpoises and seals resident in the Baltic Sea. This study uses published temporary and permanent threshold shifts, measured behavioral response thresholds, technical specifications of a sonar system, and environmental parameters affecting sound propagation common for the Baltic Sea to estimate the impact zones for harbor porpoises and seals.
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Acknowledgments
We acknowledge the financial support of the Swedish Defence Material Administration and the helpful comments of several anonymous reviewers.
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Andersson, M.H., Johansson, T. (2016). Assessment of Marine Mammal Impact Zones for Use of Military Sonar in the Baltic Sea. In: Popper, A., Hawkins, A. (eds) The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life II. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 875. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_5
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