Acoustic sampling for marine mammals in the Beaufort Sea July 2007–March 2008.

Abstract

As climate change is driving rapid, unprecedented warming of the Arctic, there is increasing interest in how such change will impact Arctic marine mammals. Impacts are anticipated from from habitat alteration, including increasing ambient noise levels from shipping, seismic exploration for oil and gas and geophysical research, and (potentially) commercial fishing. In order to monitor natural and anthropogenic sources of noise, four autonomous recorders were deployed along the 100‐m isobath between Cape Halkett and Barrow and recorded data from July 2007–March 2008. The instruments sampled at 8192 Hz on a schedule of 10 min on, 20 min off. Marine mammal sounds recorded included pinnipeds (walrus and bearded seals) and cetaceans (bowhead and beluga whales), while anthropogenic sources included shipping and air gun sounds. Seasonal and geographic patterns for these sounds will be presented. These data form part of a broader‐scale international, year‐round monitoring program in the Arctic that we hope will ev...