Exploitation of renewable energy from offshore wind farms is substantially increasing worldwide. The majority of wind turbines are bottom mounted, causing high levels of impulsive noise during construction. To prevent temporary threshold shifts (TTS) in harbor porpoise hearing, single strike sound exposure levels (SELSS) are restricted in Germany by law to a maximum of 160 dB re 1 μPa2s at a distance of 750 m from the sound source. Underwater recordings of pile driving strikes, recorded during the construction of an offshore wind farm in the German North Sea, were analyzed. Using a simulation approach, it was tested whether a TTS can still be induced under current protective regulations by multiple exposures. The evaluation tool presented here can be easily adjusted for different sound propagation, acoustic signals, or species and enables one to calculate a minimum deterrence distance. Based on this simulation approach, only the combination of SELSS regulation, previous deterrence, and soft start allow harbor porpoises to avoid a TTS from multiple exposures. However, deterrence efficiency has to be monitored.
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February 2020
February 03 2020
Effects of multiple exposures to pile driving noise on harbor porpoise hearing during simulated flights—An evaluation toola)
Special Collection:
The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life
Tobias Schaffeld;
Tobias Schaffeld
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
, Foundation, Werftstrasse 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
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Joseph G. Schnitzler;
Joseph G. Schnitzler
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
, Foundation, Werftstrasse 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
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Andreas Ruser;
Andreas Ruser
b)
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
, Foundation, Werftstrasse 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
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Benno Woelfing;
Benno Woelfing
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
, Foundation, Werftstrasse 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
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Johannes Baltzer;
Johannes Baltzer
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
, Foundation, Werftstrasse 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
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Ursula Siebert
Ursula Siebert
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
, Foundation, Werftstrasse 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
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Tobias Schaffeld
Joseph G. Schnitzler
Andreas Ruser
b)
Benno Woelfing
Johannes Baltzer
Ursula Siebert
Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research (ITAW), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover
, Foundation, Werftstrasse 6, D-25761 Buesum, Germany
b)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
a)
This paper is part of a special issue on The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life.
J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 147, 685–697 (2020)
Article history
Received:
May 04 2019
Accepted:
November 27 2019
Citation
Tobias Schaffeld, Joseph G. Schnitzler, Andreas Ruser, Benno Woelfing, Johannes Baltzer, Ursula Siebert; Effects of multiple exposures to pile driving noise on harbor porpoise hearing during simulated flights—An evaluation tool. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 February 2020; 147 (2): 685–697. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0000595
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