Data from: Evidence for ship noise impacts on humpback whale foraging behaviour

Noise from shipping activity in North Atlantic coastal waters has been
steadily increasing and is an area of growing conservation concern, as it
has the potential to disrupt the behaviour of marine organisms. This study
examines the impacts of ship noise on bottom foraging humpback whales
(Megaptera novaeangliae) in the western North Atlantic. Data were
collected from 10 foraging whales using non-invasive archival tags that
simultaneously recorded underwater movements and the acoustic environment
at the whale. Using mixed models, we assess the effects of ship noise on
seven parameters of their feeding behaviours. Independent variables
included the presence or absence of ship noise and the received level of
ship noise at the whale. We found significant effects on foraging,
including slower descent rates and fewer side-roll feeding events per dive
with increasing ship noise. During 5 of 18 ship passages, dives without
side-rolls were observed. These findings indicate that humpback whales on
Stellwagen Bank, an area with chronically elevated levels of shipping
traffic, significantly change foraging activity when exposed to high
levels of ship noise. This measureable reduction in within-dive foraging
effort of individual whales could potentially lead to population-level
impacts of shipping noise on baleen whale foraging success.

北大西洋近岸海域的航运活动所产生的噪声正持续攀升，该问题已日益引发保护生物学领域的关注，因其可能干扰海洋生物的正常行为。本研究针对北大西洋西部海域，探讨船舶噪声对底栖觅食座头鲸（Megaptera novaeangliae）的影响。研究团队采用非侵入式归档标签（archival tag），对10头处于觅食状态的座头鲸开展数据采集工作，该设备可同步记录鲸类的水下运动状态及其所处环境的声学特征。本研究借助混合效应模型（mixed model），分析船舶噪声对座头鲸7项觅食行为参数的影响。自变量涵盖船舶噪声的存在与否，以及鲸类所在位置接收到的船舶噪声声级。研究结果显示，船舶噪声对座头鲸的觅食行为存在显著影响：随着噪声强度升高，座头鲸的下潜速度放缓，且每一次下潜过程中侧滚觅食事件的发生频次降低。在18次船舶通行事件中，有5次观测到座头鲸进行了无侧滚动作的下潜。上述发现表明，在长期受高航运流量影响的斯特尔瓦根浅滩（Stellwagen Bank）海域，座头鲸在暴露于高强度船舶噪声时，其觅食活动会发生显著改变。单头鲸类单次下潜的觅食投入量出现可量化的下降，这一变化可能会在种群层面，对须鲸（baleen whale）的觅食成功率产生由航运噪声引发的负面影响。