Saving

High Quality
Acous3c Habitat
Iden%fying areas of
rela%ve natural quiet

Jim Cummings, Execu3ve Director

cummings@acous3cecology.org AEInews.org Acous3cEcology.org

Soundscape monitoring and modeling

Con%nental-scale modeling

Anthropogenic noise increase above natural ambient

MenniA, K Fristrup, K Sherrill, L Nelson. (2013) Mapping sound pressure levels on a con3nental scale using a geospa3al sound model. Internoise 2013.

Soundscape monitoring and modeling

Ocean-basin scale noise monitoring
North Atlan%c: Maine to Georgia

Rice, et al. Varia3on of ocean acous3c environments along the western North Atlan3c coast: A case
study in context of the right whale migra3on route. Ecological Informa3cs 21 (2014) 89-99

Soundscape monitoring and modeling

Listening in remote waters
Bowhead whale acous%c world
One year, six research teams
2300km transect, 20 sites

SOHN

Southern Ocean Hydrophone Network

Van Opzeeland, I., Samaran, F., Staord, K. M., Findlay, K., Gedamke, J.,
Harris, D., & Miller, B. S. (2014). Towards collec3ve circum-antarc3c passive
acous3c monitoring: the southern ocean hydrophone network (SOHN).
Polarforschung, 83(2), 47-61

Clark, Berchok, Blackwell, Hannay, Jones, Ponirakis, Staord. A year in the
acous3c world of bowhead whales in the Bering, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas.
Progress in Oceanography 136 (2015) 223-240

Emerging noise sources

Changing Arc%c soundscape
Icebreaking as dominant new noise source
in expanding marginal ice zone

Ship cavita3on caused by heavy

icebreaking is the dominant source,
increasing the NL by more than
10dB below 1000Hz and 28dB at
15Hz. The cavita3on noise during
the 2013 experiment dominates at
distances as large as 100km from
the icebreaker. This implies that

this type of noise may change

the Arc%c soundscape
signicantly.
2016 paper, Fram Strait, between Greenland and Svalbard
F Geyer, H Sagen, G Hope, M Babiker, P Worcester. Iden3ca3on and quan3ca3on of soundscape
components in the Marginal Ice Zone. J. Acous. Soc. Am. 139 (4), April 2016, 1873-1885

Emerging noise sources

Subsea oil and gas processing

Considered key to deep-water and arc%c development

some real screamers (exceeds ambient to 20-25km at 500Hz+ )

Currently just star%ng to be deployed; no regulatory oversight

20-year lifespan, opera%ng con%nuously

Emerging noise sources

Many more, on land and sea
Seaoor mining

Backcountry access
Vehicles of all kinds

New shipping ports

Cau3on, vigilance needed in areas that are
rela%vely pris%ne OR approaching acous%c satura%on

How can ecoacous%cs help?

Promising research direc%ons
Weve started with basic soundscape characteriza%on
Poten3al value for ecosystem-health assessment

Next: asking the so what ques%ons

Species-specic listening area analyses / func%onal consequences

Consider key listening frequencies, call source levels, real-world

communica3on/listening ranges, innate adapta3ons to noise

Especially useful for land managers, policy planners:

Combine noise maps with popula%on data and cri%cal habitats

Iden3fy rela3vely healthy acous3c habitats
Aim to help minimize new anthropogenic impacts

Promising research direc%ons

Oil and gas development
BLM 20-yr reasonable
foreseeable development
Orange: low end
5% of region
(based on past Resource
Management Plans)

Red: poten%al
10% of region

(historic densi3es were 3x earlier

RMP es3mates; leases in place on
81% of federal lands with
development poten3al)
Map is overlaid on
Sage Grouse Core Areas
Copeland HE, Doherty KE, Naugle DE, Pocewicz A, Kiesecker JM (2009) Mapping Oil and Gas Development Poten3al in the US Intermountain West
and Es3ma3ng Impacts to Species. PLoS ONE 4(10): e7400. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0007400

Promising research direc%ons

ACCOBAMS noise hotspots mapping
Number of noise sources

Sources include seismic, shipping,

harbor trac, oshore energy sites,
Naval exercises
(data incomplete in some areas)

Note cetacean habitat areas (hatched) with 1 or 2 noise sources

Conserva3on poten3al, especially if source is transient
A Maglio, G Pavan, M Castellote, S Frey. Overview of the Noise Hotspots in the ACCOBAMS Area, Part I
- Mediterranean Sea. ACCOBAMS Technical report, January 2016. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2574.8560/1

Promising research direc%ons

Species-specic communica%on space analyses
Acous%c quality of habitats

5 frequency bands
Varying call types &
source levels
Fin whales: least impact
Orcas: most impact

Williams, Clark,Ponirakas, Ashe. Acous3c quality of cri3cal habitats for three

threatened whale popula3ons. Animal Conserva3on (2013)

Erbe, MacGillivray, Williams. Mapping cumula3ve noise from shipping to inform marine
spa3al planning. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 132 (5), November 2012

Humpbacks: mixed

Promising research direc%ons

Iden%fying areas with predominantly natural soundscapes
Opportunity sites

popula3on
density

species-weighted
shipping noise

RISK

OPPORTUNITY

Rob Williams, Chris3ne Erbe, Erin Ashe, Christopher Clark. Quiet(er) marine protected areas.
Marine Pollu3on Bulle3n (2015), hAp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.marpolbul.2015.09.012

If two places are equally

important to whales, with one
being noisy and the other being
quiet, it would be helpful to
iden3fy those areas.... The noisy
area may require mi3ga3on,
whereas the quiet area may
make a more a`rac%ve or
convenient candidate for
cri%cal habitat protec%on,
either because it represents
higher quality habitat to the
animals or because it imposes
lower economic costs to society
to mi3gate anthropogenic
threats.

Promising research direc%ons

Iden%fying areas with predominantly natural soundscapes
The quietest sites in our study (primarily mainland inlets) have substan%al
periods of quiet that are quieter than any recorded o the US east coast
(Hatch et al., 2012). As researchers consider experimental approaches to
beAer quan3fy ecosystem-level eects of noise (Boyd et al., 2011), unusually
quiet places like BCs mainland inlets may present opportuni%es for
conduc%ng ocean noise or quie%ng experiments, or to consider novel
conserva%on mechanisms to preserve acous%c wilderness sites.

The quietest noise measurements in our study match those reported by Urick
(1983). This means that there are places and %mes today where once-normal
windows of quiet s%ll exist. For marine mammals and shes, these are the
levels in which natural and sexual selec%on occurred, and these are the
condi3ons under which the acous3c arms race between predator and prey
evolved (Tyack & Clark, 2000). Today, throughout the Northern Hemisphere,
those once-normal levels are becoming the excep%on rather than the rule.
Williams, Clark,Ponirakas, Ashe. Acous3c quality of cri3cal habitats for three threatened whale popula3ons. Animal Conserva3on (2013)

Toward acous%c refuges

Lots of talk, li`le ac%on, in MPA and Marine Sanctuary realm
2009 policy joining NPS in managing noise

The Na3onal Marine Sanctuary will use the tools and

authori3es at its disposal to prevent and/or mi%gate
human-induced acous%c impacts on sanctuary
resources..... As feasible and as necessary, consider
regula%on to mi%gate or eliminate ac%vi%es that
generate human-induced acous3c impacts to
sanctuary resources.

In the marine realm, emerging noise management prac3ces (and)

the broad mandate of the NMSA provides a unique opportunity
to create noise management prac%ces and regula%ons that
represent todays best available science.
Leila Hatch, NOAA, Stellwagen Bank Na=onal Marine Sanctuary
Kurt Fristrup, Na=onal Park Service, Natural Sounds Program Center

Policy Guidance, Oce of Na3onal Marine Sanctuaries. Human-induced acous3c impacts on marine life. March 2009. Daniel J. Bastra, Director.
Leila T Hatch, Kurt M Fristrup. No barrier at the boundaries: implemen3ng regional frameworks for noise management in protected natural areas.
Mar Ecol Prog Ser Vol. 395: 223-244, 2009.

Toward acous%c refuges

Lots of talk, li`le ac%on, in MPA and Marine Sanctuary realm
North American Intergovernmental Commi`ee on Protec%on
for Wilderness and Protected Area Conserva%on

2011 Consensus Statement on Marine Wilderness

Establishing marine wilderness protected areas should be
considered a NAWPA objec%ve achievable over the long term. ...
These can serve as clear examples of marine areas with ecologically
intact ecosystems that have management goals which preserve the
wild character and nature of these special places.
Protec3ng spawning habitat, reproduc3on areas, foraging grounds,
migratory stopover habitat
Limi%ng human ac%vi%es in some areas including transporta%on,
energy extrac%on and explora%on, and military opera%ons

CONSERVING MARINE WILDERNESS , Marine Wilderness Working Group Consensus Version, 2011, 2013.
Jim Cummings. Sound/Noise and Marine Life: Why assessing, monitoring, and perhaps regula3ng sound
in MPAs could be helpful. Marine Wilderness 10+10 Workshop, February 2015.

Global eort underway to expand MPAs

We need to add sound considera%ons to the discussion
UN, Rome, 2016

10x20 Project
10% of oceans by 2020

Global Ocean Refuge

System (GLORES)

30% each biogeographic

region by 2030
Some fully protected

Marine Wilderness 10+10

2015, Project Wild,

NAWPA govt agencies
Build local cons3tuency for
experiments in wilderness
within 20 MPAs

Terrestrial wildlands: good news?

85% of protected lands have rela%vely modest noise impacts

US protected lands of all kinds (federal, state, local, private)

3dB+ human impact: 15% of protected area (yellow, red)
But: 56% of units! (3ny speckles, preserves in red)
R Buxton, MF McKenna, E Brown, D Mennit, K Fristrup, K Crooks, L Angeloni, G WiAemyer. Noise pollu3on in US protected areas. AAAS Poster.

Terrestrial wildlands: bad news!

Remnants of natural quiet shrinking rapidly
12% of con%guous US

1.4dB human impact or less

a near-ubiquitous transforma3on of
the acous3cal environment1

The quan3ty of land with a
rela3vely low level of impact is
striking. . . the loca3ons of the areas
that are let suggest that ecological
systems are heavily fragmented.2
1 Clinton D. Francis. Vocal traits and diet explain avian sensi3vi3es to
anthropogenic noise. Global Change Biology, 2015. Doi: 10.1111/gcb.12862
2 D MenniA, K Fristrup, K Sherrill, L Nelson. (2013) Mapping sound pressure
levels on a con3nental scale using a geospa3al sound model. Internoise 2013.
3 The Last Remaining Quiet Places in the Con3nental United States. Map by
Noise Pollu3on Clearinghouse, Stone Environmental, using ESRI data.

Making a dierence
Federal land management dicult to get trac%on
NPS doing great science
Pushing forward into
tougher ques=ons

Dicult to implement policy
changes to reduce noise
GCNP air tours, 20-yr process
NPS proposed ight-free %mes
around sunrise and sunset
(fantas;c idea!)
Rare Senate bipar%sanship:

Reid/McCain scu`led the plan

24%: audible > 2/3 of day (RED)

49%: audible > 1/4 of day
37%: audible <5% of day (DK BLUE)

Drat Environmental Impact Statement Special Flight Rules Area in the Vicinity of Grand Canyon Na3onal Park
McCain, Reid succeed in quest to stop Grand Canyon overight rules, AEInews, 7/2/12 hAp://aeinews.org/archives/1998.

Making a dierence
Federal land management dicult to get trac%on
2015: FAA rebued NPS input
on new Bay Area airports ight pa`erns
New corridor over a rela=vely quiet part of Point Reyes;
con=nued heavy impact on Yosemite
We have a long history of
[the FAA] not agreeing with us.
We feel were obligated to get this
noise o of the wilderness areas;
were just trying to do our job,
and theyre just ignoring us.

Judy Rocchio, NPS Pacic West Region

A lot of high-al%tude jets get funneled over Yosemite. Its just constant.
Vicki Ward, NPS overights program manager

FAA spurns opportunity for quiet area protec3on in trac paAern updates. AEInews, 6/30/15. hAp://aeinews.org/archives/2809
Denver FAA revision just beginning! hAp://www.metroplexenvironmental.com/denver_metroplex/denver_introduc3on.html

Making a dierence
Local and regional conserva%on more poten%al for success?
Iden%fy areas with
conserva%on value for
acous%c habitat
and quiet recrea%on
(nd pockets near ci=es!)

Tucson
MenniA, K Fristrup, K Sherrill, L Nelson. (2013) Mapping sound pressure levels on a con3nental scale using a geospa3al sound model. Internoise 2013.

Making a dierence
Local and regional conserva%on more poten%al for success?
All levels of rela%ve natural quiet
have conserva%on value
Good enough for local recrea%on
No extreme noise (airports, highways)
Chronic local trac noise is faint
High value recrea%on/conserva%on
Opportuni3es for extended
noise-free periods

Na3onal Park Service model (above)

Predominantly free of noise

Noise Pollu3on Clearinghouse model (below)

The Last Remaining Quiet Places in the Con3nental United States. Map by Noise
Pollu3on Clearinghouse, Stone Environmental, using ESRI data.
MenniA, K Fristrup, K Sherrill, L Nelson. (2013) Mapping sound pressure levels on a
con3nental scale using a geospa3al sound model. Internoise 2013.
F Turina, E Lynch, K Fristrup. Recommended Indicators and Thresholds of Acous3c
Resource Quality. NPS State of the Park Reports. Interim Guidance, 2013.

Making a dierence
Local and regional conserva%on more poten%al for success?

Bay of Fundy: Soundscape study by regional conserva%on group

Iden3ed possible acous3c refuge
Lower noise / higher biodiversity
closer to shipping than some othersbut tucked behind shorelines

Eric Brunsdon, Donald Killorn. The Coastal Soundscape Study of the Outer Bay of Fundy. Eastern CharloAe Waterways, 2016.

Terrestrial, marine collabora%on

Unifying marine and terrestrial management objec%ves

Interna%onal Quiet Ocean Experiment

Ini%al scien%c commi`ee mee%ng, March 2016
7-year research project
One year of intensive acous%cs studies worldwide

VERY interested in collabora%on

with terrestrial ecoacous%cs
IQOE.org

Final thoughts
Protec%ng rela%ve natural quiet
Les Blomberg, NPC:
So far, protec%on of quiet isnt a policy decision.
It is an accident of geography and economics.

Kurt Fristrup, NPS:

Were losing the ability to
appreciate expansive listening opportuni%es
This giy that we are born with to reach out and hear things
hundreds of meters away, all these incredible sounds is in
danger of being lost through a genera%onal amnesia.

Public Outreach Workshop: Noise in Communi3es and Natural Areas, Denver, August 27, 2013. NAE, NPS, AQuieterFuture.org
hAps://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/feb/17/noise-pollu3on-is-making-us-oblivious-to-the-sound-of-nature-says-researcher

Acous%cEcology.org
AEInews.org

Resources/informa3on on all manner of sound-related

environmental issues and science
science summaries special reports news updates

Thanks to Stuart and cohorts for making

this event happen!
Jim Cummings, Execu3ve Director
jim@acous3cecology.org

Below are supplemental slides, deleted from the presentation for brevity

Soundscape monitoring and modeling

Recent explosion of interest in sound

See hAp://cetsound.noaa.gov

P Tyack, G Frisk, I Boyd, E Urban, S Seeyave, Editors. Interna3onal Quiet Ocean Experiment Science Plan. 2015. Interna3onal
Council for Science, Scien3c CommiAee on Oceanic Research; Partnership for Observa3on of the Global Oceans.

Soundscape monitoring and modeling

Sources of sound

Biophony, geophony, technophony

Kanai Na3onal Wildlife Refuge
TC Mullet, SH Gage, JM Morton, F HueAmann. Temporal and spa3al varia3on of a winter soundscape in
south-central Alaska. Landscape Ecol, 2015. DOI 10.1007/210980-015-0323-0

Soundscape monitoring and modeling

Sound budgets seasonal

Parks, Miklos-Olds, Denes. Assessing marine acous3c diversity across ocean basins. Ecological Informa3cs 21 (2014) 8188
SEE ALSO: Sirovic, Wiggins, Oleson. Ocean noise in the tropical and subtropical Pacic Ocean. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134 (4), October 2013

Soundscape monitoring and modeling

Listening in busy waters
NEPAN

ONC / IOOS

LIDO

Some surprises
Seismic survey sounds in remote polar Atlan%c
Increases to ambient:

Airguns
5-10dB, up to 20dB

Some3mes greater
than other major
noise sources
(winter storms &
whales, both 10dB)

Klink et al, Seasonal presence of cetaceans and ambient noise levels in polar waters of the North Atlan3c. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 132 (3), September 2012

Some surprises
Shipping noise not rising in all areas
North Pacic
1960s-1990s 3dB/decade
trends have changed
Indian Ocean
S3ll increasing

South Atlan%c
Equatorial Pacic
Signs of recent leveling,
but likely higher than 80s

JL Miklos-Olds, SM Nichols. Is low frequency ocean sound increasing globally? J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 139 (1), January 2016, 501-511
Andrew, R. K., Howe, B. M., and Mercer, J. A. (2011). Long-3me trends in ship trac noise for four sites o the North American West Coast, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 129, 642651.
Miksis-Olds, J. L., Bradley, D. L., and Niu, X. M. (2013). Decadal trends in Indian Ocean ambient sound, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134, 34643475.
Miksis-Olds, J. L., Bradley, D. L., and Niu, X. M. (2014). Erratum: Decadal trends in Indian Ocean ambient sound [J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134(5), 34643475 (2013)], J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 135, 1642.

Making a dierence
Chicago-region resource protec%on areas
Not designed as sound-related
Seeking linkages (light green)
between exis3ng public
open spaces (dark green)
Could readily be combined with
regional detail from the NPS
con3nental-scale noise map
featured earlier to focus on areas
of rela3vely lower human noise.

(but good luck; this aint no Tucson!)

Liam Heneghan et al. Lessons Learned from Chicago Wilderness

Implemen3ng and Sustaining Conserva3on Management in an Urban
Se}ng. Diversity 2012, 4(1), 74-93; doi:10.3390/d4010074

 Increasing acous%c concerns

Animal eects more widespread than earlier believed

Eels: more vulnerable to predators

Shellsh: less successful larval development
Crabs: reduced foraging, slower responses to predators
Fish: reduced nest digging and vigilance

Fish near bridge pilings?
Birds around oil and gas installa;ons?

24 Right whales: 84%

Fin whales: 33%
Eels: hAp://aeinews.org/archives/2662; Crabs: hAp://aeinews.org/archives/2438 Fish and road noise: hAp://aeinews.org/archives/2757
Shellsh larvae: hAp://aeinews.org/archives/2514

Emerging noise sources

Increased Arc%c shipping
Canadian Northwest Passage
2016: rst large cruise ship
Cargo mostly on ends, so far
300-350 voyages/year
Russian Northern Sea Route
30-70 full transits/year

Arc3c Council
very focused on this

8 Arc3c countries
6 regional indigenous councils
hAp://pame.is/images/03_Projects/AMSA/AMSA_Documents/Progress_Reports/AMSArecommenda3ons2015_Web.pdf

Emerging noise sources

Increased Arc%c shipping
Pressing need for designated shipping corridors
2016 Pew report:

The Integrated Arc%c

Corridors Framework
Canadian Coast Guard
proposed voluntary
plan allows transits of
45% of biologically and
socially signicant areas
Pew framework limits
this to 25%

hAp://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/reports/2016/04/the-integrated-arc3c-corridors-framework

Emerging noise sources

Antarc%c tourism

The governance system doesnt

really have an idea how [tourism]
trends should look in 10, 20, 30
years. Antarc%ca is a special place, it
is set aside, and we dont want it to
look like anywhere else.
Claire Chris=an, Antarc=c and
Southern Ocean Coali=on

48 companies, 55 vessels
40,000 people/year
So far, safety limita3ons are concentra3ng the impact:
77% of visitors on under 500 acres

Improving popula%on distribu%on data

The other half of the equa%on
Duke:
OBIS-SEAMAP

Combines 100s of
data sets

Seasonal
distribu%ons

(Monthly for some)

Marine mammals
Seabirds
Sharks
Rays, turtles
Even some
amphibians

Habitat-based Cetacean Density Models For The U.S. Atlan3c And Gulf Of Mexico (2015 Version). Developed By Marine Geospa3al Ecology Laboratory, Duke University

Improving popula%on distribu%on data

The other half of the equa%on
NOAAs Cetacean Density
& Distribu%on Mapping
(CetMap) Working Group
Special issue of Aqua=c
Mammals, 2015:

Biologically Important Areas

for Cetaceans Within
US Waters
7 regional reviews of best
current data

Next:
Overlay sound data
and/or models
K Dudzinski, SM van Parijs, Eds. Biologically Important Areas for Cetaceans Within US Waters. Aqua3c Mammals 2015, 41(1), 1, DOI 10.1578/AM.41.1.2015.1

Terrestrial, marine collabora%on

Unifying marine and terrestrial cri%cal-area designa%ons

IUCN
Beginning to integrate
Important Marine Mammal Areas
with their terrestrial
Key Biodiversity Areas

the complete alignment of the

two processes is desirable.

Joint Statement by the The IUCN WCPA-SSC Joint Task Force on Biodiversity and Protected Areas and
the IUCN WCPA-SSC Joint Task Force on Marine Mammal Protected Areas. 4 November 2015