Abstract
There is growing concern over the potential effects of high-intensity sonar on wild fish populations and commercial fisheries. Acoustic telemetry was employed to measure the movements of free-ranging reef fish and sea turtles in Port Canaveral, FL, in response to routine submarine sonar testing. Twenty-five sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus), 28 gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus), and 29 green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) were tagged, with movements monitored for a period of up to 4 months using an array of passive acoustic receivers. Baseline residency was examined for fish and sea turtles before, during, and after the test event. No mortality of tagged fish or sea turtles was evident from the sonar test event. There was a significant increase in the daily residency index for both sheepshead and gray snapper at the testing wharf subsequent to the event. No broad-scale movement from the study site was observed during or immediately after the test.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Jane Provancha, LCDR James Westermeyer and the Naval Ordnance Test Unit, and Don George and Angy Chambers at the Air Force 45th Space Wing Natural Assets Office for logistical support. We also thank Doug Scheidt, Carla Garreau, Russell Lowers, Karen Holloway-Adkins, Jennifer James, Carter Watterson, Colin Lazauski, David MacDuffee, Tony Ruffa, and the Florida Atlantic Coast Telemetry Array Community. This project was approved by the Kennedy Space Center Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Environmental Review Board. Funding was provided by the US Fleet Forces Command N46, the Canaveral Port Authority, and the Naval Undersea Warfare Center In-House Laboratory Independent Research Program.
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Watwood, S.L., Iafrate, J.D., Reyier, E.A., Redfoot, W.E. (2016). Behavioral Response of Reef Fish and Green Sea Turtles to Midfrequency Sonar. 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_152
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