Abstract
Non-motorised, recreational water activities were recorded underwater in the controlled setting of a public swimming pool during the off-season. Individuals, one at a time, swam freestyle and breaststroke, snorkelled, scuba-dived, kicked a boogie board and a surfboard, kayaked, and simply jumped into the water. Underwater video and still images were recorded at the same time to interpret the sounds recorded. Most of the sound was due to bubbles generated underwater. Activities involving fins (flippers) were the loudest (boogie boarding and snorkelling), followed by freestyle swimming, surfboard paddling, and kayaking. Breaststroke generated the fewest bubbles and was the quietest. All activities produced bubbles, hence noise, at a characteristic temporal pattern. Scuba-diving exhibited two distinct noise spectra related to inhalation and exhalation. Received levels ranged from 110 to 131 dB re 1 \(\upmu \)Pa (10–16,000 Hz) for all of the activities at the closest point of approach (1 m). The results might have applicability to the monitoring of pools for security reasons, to performance assessments of swimmers, and to studies of the distances at which humans may be detectible by marine animals in the sea.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Richardson, W.J., Greene, C.R., Malme, C.I., Thomson, D.H.: Marine Mammals and Noise. Academic Press, San Diego (1995)
Wyatt, R.: Review of existing data on underwater sounds produced by the oil and gas industry. Joint Industry Programme on Sound and Marine Life, Seiche Measurements Ltd, Great Torrington, UK (2008)
Press, W.H., Teukolsky, S.A., Vetterling, W.T., Flannery, B.P.: Numerical Recipes: The Art of Scientific Computing, 3rd edn. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York (2007)
Parsons, M.J.G., Longbottom, S., Lewis, P., McCauley, R.D., Fairclough, D.V.: Sound production by the West Australian dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134(4), 2701–2709 (2013). doi:10.1121/1.4818775
Erbe, C.: Underwater noise of small personal watercraft (jet skis). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 133(4), EL326–EL330 (2013). doi:10.1121/1.4795220
Wenz, G.M.: Acoustic ambient noise in the ocean: spectra and sources. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 34(12), 1936–1956 (1962). doi:10.1121/1.1909155
Longuet-Higgins, M.S.: Bubble noise spectra. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 87(2), 652–661 (1990). doi:10.1121/1.398934
Ross, D.: Mechanics of Underwater Noise. Pergamon Press, New York (1976)
Prosperetti, A., Lu, N.Q., Kim, H.S.: Active and passive acoustic behavior of bubble clouds at the oceans surface. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 93(6), 3117–3127 (1993). doi:10.1121/1.405696
Prosperetti, A., Lu, N.Q., Lezzi, A.: Bubble clouds as sources and scatterers of underwater sound. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 85(S1), S154 (1989). doi:10.1121/1.2026825
Urick, R.J.: Principles of Underwater Sound, 3rd edn. McGraw Hill, New York (1983)
Erbe, C., Reichmuth, C., Cunningham, K.C., Lucke, K., Dooling, R.J.: Communication masking in marine mammals: a review and research strategy. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 103, 15–38 (2016). doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.12.007
Lo, K.W., Ferguson, B.G.: Diver detection and localization using passive sonar. In: Proceedings of Acoustics, Fremantle, Western Australia (2012)
Donskoy, D.M., Sedunov, N.A., Sedunov, A.N., Tsionskiy, M.A.: Variability of SCUBA diver’s acoustic emission. In: Proceedings of SPIE, p. 620408. Orlando, FL (2008)
Fillinger, L., Hunter, A.J., Zampolli, M., Clarijs, M.C.: Passive acoustic detection of closed-circuit underwater breathing apparatus in an operational port environment. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 132(4), EL310–EL316 (2012). doi:10.1121/1.4751985
Sanders, R.H.: Kinematics, coordination, variability, and biological noise in the prone flutter kick at different levels of a ”learn-to-swim” programme. J. Sports Sci. 25(2), 213–227 (2007). doi:10.1080/02640410600631025
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Rebecca Wellard, Leila Fouda, Sylvia Osterrieder, Sven Gastauer, and Nicholas Riddoch, all of the Centre for Marine Science & Technology, for swimming in a cold public pool during the off-season. David Minchin and Malcolm Perry kindly assisted with equipment preparation, calibration, and data collection. The authors are also grateful to Scotch College and the University of Western Australia for the use of their pools during tests, and to Mullaloo Surf Lifesavers through BeachLAB and Ocean Reef SeaRescue for measurements conducted off Western Australia’s beaches.
Funding This study was funded by the Western Australian Government, Office of Science, under the Applied Research Program—Round 2. The Western Australian Government does not endorse any information, product, process or outcome, arising from or in relation to this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Erbe, C., Parsons, M., Duncan, A.J. et al. Underwater Acoustic Signatures of Recreational Swimmers, Divers, Surfers and Kayakers. Acoust Aust 44, 333–341 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40857-016-0062-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40857-016-0062-7