Dear colleagues,
On behalf of my co-authors, I would like to share with you our most recent publication:
"Assessment of cetacean exposure to underwater noise in the southwestern
Atlantic ocean
"
Bittencourt, L., Barbosa, M., Paiva, A., Bisi, T.L., Mill, G. N., Costa, V. S., Lailson-Brito,J.Jr., and Azevedo, A.F. (2023)
ABSTRACT
Cetacean exposure to underwater noise in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean is largely unknown. With the goal to
characterize sound pressure and sound exposure levels in different environments, we have employed data from
one month of passive acoustic monitoring in a coastal and an oceanic location to register sound pressure level
variations and to calculate sound exposure levels to which cetacean species are subjected. Noise profiles varied
between locations; Rio de Janeiro coastal area had higher levels than the Vitoria-Trindade Seamount Chain area.
At both sites, low-frequency hearing cetaceans were the group under higher exposure during day and night. For
high-frequency and very high-frequency groups, the day period presented higher levels. Results highlight the
conditions of these unexplored soundscapes and the necessity for taking underwater noise into consideration for
space-time regulation of marine areas in cetacean conservation efforts.
Kind regards,
Lis
--
Dr. Lis Bittencourt
Post-doctoral fellow in Oceanography
Laboratório de Mamíferos Aquáticos e Bioindicadores - MAQUA
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - UERJ
Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, 4º andar - sala 4002 bloco E
Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, Brazil