Harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) behavior and foraging activity around Kullaberg and the effects of marine vessels traffic
(2022) BIOM02 20211Degree Projects in Biology
- Abstract
- The harbor porpoise is a small toothed whale with a widespread distribution, which spans the temperate and boreal waters of the northern hemisphere. As echolocating marine mammals, harbor porpoises rely heavily on acoustic signals, and it has been reported that vessel traffic can cause disturbances to these animals. The waters around the Kullaberg peninsula are an important breeding and nursing ground for harbor porpoises, and concurrently, a relatively heavily trafficked area. Passive Acoustic Monitoring devices (C-PODs, Chelonia Ltd UK) were deployed at two locations outside the tip of the Kullaberg peninsula, over the course of 142 days, in order to investigate the acoustic activity and the foraging behavior of the porpoises. In... (More)
- The harbor porpoise is a small toothed whale with a widespread distribution, which spans the temperate and boreal waters of the northern hemisphere. As echolocating marine mammals, harbor porpoises rely heavily on acoustic signals, and it has been reported that vessel traffic can cause disturbances to these animals. The waters around the Kullaberg peninsula are an important breeding and nursing ground for harbor porpoises, and concurrently, a relatively heavily trafficked area. Passive Acoustic Monitoring devices (C-PODs, Chelonia Ltd UK) were deployed at two locations outside the tip of the Kullaberg peninsula, over the course of 142 days, in order to investigate the acoustic activity and the foraging behavior of the porpoises. In addition, an acoustic recorder (SoundTrap, Ocean Instruments NZ) was deployed at one of the two locations, recording over a period of 14 days, in order to analyze potential effects of acoustic disturbance from vessel traffic on the porpoises’ foraging efforts. Diurnal patterns were identified in harbor porpoise acoustic activity, and the same diurnal patterns were also reflected in their foraging behavior. Apart from diurnal effects, other factors that were found to influence the porpoises’ general activity levels were foraging behavior, season, monitoring location, sea surface temperature and Julian date. Furthermore, pronounced foraging behavior was detected at low noise levels (i.e., 60-79.9 dB re 1 µPa), while the foraging counts fluctuated and then decreased when the ambient noise increased to moderate levels (i.e., 80- 99.9 dB re 1 µPa). This study sheds light onto the harbor porpoises’ inherent behavioral patterns and the environmental factors that influence them, as well as insight on potential effects of underwater noise on the porpoises’ foraging efforts. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- The Kullaberg peninsula, located in Scania, southern Sweden is an area with high occurrence of harbor porpoises. This presents an ideal opportunity for the monitoring of harbor porpoises’ activity patterns and behaviors in the area. In the present study, the general activity and foraging patterns of harbor porpoises were investigated with the use of two passive acoustic monitoring devices called C-PODs. These monitoring devices were deployed in two locations one kilometer apart and the activity patterns of the porpoises were monitored over a period of approximately 5 months. Additionally, an acoustic data logger called SoundTrap was deployed at the tip of Kullaberg, in order to assess the impact of underwater noise on harbor porpoise... (More)
- The Kullaberg peninsula, located in Scania, southern Sweden is an area with high occurrence of harbor porpoises. This presents an ideal opportunity for the monitoring of harbor porpoises’ activity patterns and behaviors in the area. In the present study, the general activity and foraging patterns of harbor porpoises were investigated with the use of two passive acoustic monitoring devices called C-PODs. These monitoring devices were deployed in two locations one kilometer apart and the activity patterns of the porpoises were monitored over a period of approximately 5 months. Additionally, an acoustic data logger called SoundTrap was deployed at the tip of Kullaberg, in order to assess the impact of underwater noise on harbor porpoise foraging behavior. The monitoring period in this case was approximately 6.5 days. A few interesting highlights of the results were firstly, the diurnal patterns observed, with the animals being more active at night and in the evening and secondly, the abiotic and temporal factors, such as season, Julian date, and temperature that appear to play a significant role in harbor porpoise activity patterns. Furthermore, despite the relatively low levels of noise around Kullaberg, there does seem to be a negative effect of underwater noise on porpoise foraging activity; the foraging efforts of porpoises appeared to decline as the noise levels increased. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9075459
- author
- Tsouka, Fani
- supervisor
-
- Johanna Stedt LU
- Per Carlsson LU
- Anders Nilsson LU
- organization
- course
- BIOM02 20211
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 9075459
- date added to LUP
- 2022-02-16 15:12:46
- date last changed
- 2022-02-16 15:12:46
@misc{9075459,
abstract = {{The harbor porpoise is a small toothed whale with a widespread distribution, which spans the temperate and boreal waters of the northern hemisphere. As echolocating marine mammals, harbor porpoises rely heavily on acoustic signals, and it has been reported that vessel traffic can cause disturbances to these animals. The waters around the Kullaberg peninsula are an important breeding and nursing ground for harbor porpoises, and concurrently, a relatively heavily trafficked area. Passive Acoustic Monitoring devices (C-PODs, Chelonia Ltd UK) were deployed at two locations outside the tip of the Kullaberg peninsula, over the course of 142 days, in order to investigate the acoustic activity and the foraging behavior of the porpoises. In addition, an acoustic recorder (SoundTrap, Ocean Instruments NZ) was deployed at one of the two locations, recording over a period of 14 days, in order to analyze potential effects of acoustic disturbance from vessel traffic on the porpoises’ foraging efforts. Diurnal patterns were identified in harbor porpoise acoustic activity, and the same diurnal patterns were also reflected in their foraging behavior. Apart from diurnal effects, other factors that were found to influence the porpoises’ general activity levels were foraging behavior, season, monitoring location, sea surface temperature and Julian date. Furthermore, pronounced foraging behavior was detected at low noise levels (i.e., 60-79.9 dB re 1 µPa), while the foraging counts fluctuated and then decreased when the ambient noise increased to moderate levels (i.e., 80- 99.9 dB re 1 µPa). This study sheds light onto the harbor porpoises’ inherent behavioral patterns and the environmental factors that influence them, as well as insight on potential effects of underwater noise on the porpoises’ foraging efforts.}},
author = {{Tsouka, Fani}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) behavior and foraging activity around Kullaberg and the effects of marine vessels traffic}},
year = {{2022}},
}