Project description
How cetaceans respond to natural and man-made noise
Motorised vessels cause underwater noise pollution that can alter marine soundscapes and negatively impact cetaceans. Studies suggest that exposure to vessel noise can interfere with cetaceans’ communication, navigation, and feeding behaviour. However, cetaceans have not evolved in naturally quiet environments, and some researchers hypothesise that these species have adapted to cope with naturally occurring fluctuations in noise levels. The EU-funded RAIN project will study the effects of natural noises such as rain on harbour porpoises. It will compare their responses to those observed when exposed to noise from motorised vessels. The project will use long-term acoustic monitoring and innovative recording tags to provide insights that can inform protection policies. The aim is to understand if cetaceans perceive and respond to vessel noise in the same way as to other natural noises.
Objective
In the marine environment, motorised vessels are now the most ubiquitous and pervasive anthropogenic noise source, and the evidence for deleterious impacts from this noise source on sensitive marine life, such as cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), is mounting. However, cetaceans have not evolved in silent or naturally quiet environments, and it may be hypothesised that animals have developed mechanisms to cope with naturally fluctuating noise levels. Regardless, studies have yet to investigate whether individual cetaceans perceive and respond to motorised vessel noise in the same way as acoustically similar and significant natural noises, such as rain, for which they have been exposed to over evolutionary timescales. In RAIN, I will, for the first time, compare the responses of harbour porpoises, a small odontocete cetacean, to both motorised vessels and rain noise. RAIN will (1) quantify the absolute contributions of rain and vessel noise to local marine soundscapes experienced by populations of harbour porpoises using long-term passive acoustic monitoring data; (2) assess and compare the behavioural and acoustic responses of individual harbour porpoises to these noise sources using state-of-the-art acoustic recording tags (DTAGs); and (3) investigate the effect of rain and vessel noise on individual echolocation performance as a proxy for foraging performance. Through RAIN, I will provide new insights into how harbour porpoises perceive and respond to natural and anthropogenic noises at population and individual scales, and identify, quantify, and compare potential coping mechanisms they employ to deal with these different noise sources. Results from RAIN will, in turn, providing evidence which will be used to directly inform the management of underwater noise levels and the protection of a key marine species in European marine waters.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01
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8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
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