A quantitative soundscape analysis of the Canadian Arctic, 2014–2019

Abstract

In the Arctic, sound levels have historically been strongly tied to sea ice and wind speed, with very little impact of anthropogenic noise. However, climate change is causing a loss of sea ice, and consequently increased ship traffic and anthropogenic underwater noise. Here, we present the first quantitative, comparative analysis of underwater sound levels across the Canadian Arctic. We analyzed 39 passive acoustic datasets collected throughout the Canadian Arctic from 2014 to 2019 to examine spatial and temporal trends in sound pressure levels (SPL), quantify environment drivers of SPL, and estimate the influence of ship traffic on SPL. Daily mean SPL in the 50–1000 Hz bandwidth ranged from 70 to 127 dB re 1 μPa (median = 91 dB). SPL increased as wind speed increased, but decreased as both ice concentration and air temperature increased. The highest SPLs were in August-October, and the lowest in March–April. SPL increased as the number of ships increased. The highest mean SPLs were recorded near southeast Baffin Island, but the most ship noise was recorded near Pond Inlet (>1 ship/day in summer). This study provides an important baseline for underwater sound levels in the Canadian Arctic, and fills many geographic gaps on published underwater sound levels.