Abstract
Studies of ambient noise south of Australia show higher levels at low frequencies in the deep water off the continental shelf compared with locations on the shelf. The difference arises because of differences in transmission loss. Marine animals would experience significantly different noise levels and directionality in the two regions and while crossing the boundary, provide positional information. Opportunities for long-range, low-frequency communication by animals would be significantly limited by the higher background noise in the open ocean. Measures of long-term sea noise trends highlight the influence of biological sources and the importance of local sound transmission regimens.
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Acknowledgments
BP Developments Australia Pty. Ltd. supported sea noise logger deployments at locations 1 and 2. Santos, Origin Energy, Woodside Energy, Primary Industry Research South Australia (PIRSA), Benaris, and Essential Oil funded early noise logger deployments from locations 3 to 5. Sea noise logger deployments from 2008 onward at location 5 (south of Portland) were funded by the Australian Governments’ Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), a part of the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Scheme (NCRIS).
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McCauley, R.D., Cato, D.H., Duncan, A.J. (2016). Regional Variations and Trends in Ambient Noise: Examples from Australian Waters. 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_83
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_83
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