| Title | Beluga vocalizations decrease in response to vessel traffic in the Mackenzie River estuary |
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| Author | Halliday, W; Scharffenberg, K; MacPhee, S; Hilliard, R C; Mouy, X; Whalen, D ; Loseto, L L; Insley, S |
| Source | Arctic vol. 72, no. 4, 2019 p. 337-484, https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic69294  Open Access |
| Image |  |
| Year | 2019 |
| Alt Series | Natural Resources Canada, Contribution Series 20200769 |
| Publisher | The Arctic Institute of North America |
| Document | serial |
| Lang. | English |
| Media | paper; on-line; digital |
| File format | pdf |
| Province | Northwest Territories; Northern offshore region |
| NTS | 107C/06; 107C/07; 107C/10; 107C/11 |
| Area | Mackenzie River; Mackenzie Delta; Kugmallit Bay; Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area |
| Lat/Long WENS | -134.5000 -133.0000 69.7500 69.2500 |
| Subjects | geophysics; environmental geology; Nature and Environment; Science and Technology; Transport; marine environments; estuaries; geophysical surveys; acoustic surveys, marine; Delphinapterus leucas; Marine
biology; Aquatic animals; Mammals; Whales; Water transport; Environmental protection; Environmental management |
| Illustrations | location maps; tables; time series; plots |
| Program | Climate Change Geoscience Coastal Infrastructure |
| Released | 2019 12 18 |
| Abstract | Vessel traffic negatively affects marine mammals by causing behavioural disturbance, acoustic masking, contamination (i.e., oil spills), and ship strikes. Few studies have examined the effects of
vessels on marine mammals in the Arctic, but beluga whales appear to be especially sensitive to vessel traffic. We examine how the vocalizations of belugas are impacted by vessel traffic in the Tarium Niryutait Marine Protected Area in the Mackenzie
River estuary of the western Canadian Arctic. Between one and four acoustic recorders were deployed between June and August each year between 2015 and 2018 near the only shipping channel at this site. We examined beluga vocalizations from acoustic
recordings over four summers and assessed how the distance to the nearest vessel passing the acoustic recorder affected the number of vocalizations. Beluga vocalizations within the range of the acoustic recorder decreased significantly when vessels
were within 5 km of the acoustic recorder. This result suggests either that belugas are avoiding the vessel or that they reduce their vocalization in response to vessel traffic. Future work is needed to assess exactly how belugas are reacting to
vessel traffic in this area and what the long-term consequences of these reactions are. Management measures for reducing these impacts must be carefully considered, especially since these vessels are very restricted in where they can travel, and many
of the vessels are necessary for the livelihoods of local communities. |
| Summary | (Plain Language Summary, not published)
Vessel traffic negatively affects marine mammals by causing behavioural disturbance, acoustic masking, contamination (i.e., oil spills), and ship
strikes. Few studies have examined the effects of vessels on marine mammals in the Arctic, but beluga whales appear to be especially sensitive to vessel traffic. We examine how the vocalizations of belugas are impacted by vessel traffic in the Tarium
Niryutait Marine Protected Area in the Mackenzie River estuary of the western Canadian Arctic. Beluga vocalizations within the range of the acoustic recorder decreased significantly when vessels were within 5 km of the acoustic recorder. This result
suggests either that belugas are avoiding the vessel or that they reduce their vocalization in response to vessel traffic. |
| GEOSCAN ID | 328150 |
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