Data from: Fish sound production in the presence of harmful algal blooms in the eastern Gulf of Mexico

This paper presents the first known research to examine sound production
by fishes during harmful algal blooms (HABs). Most fish sound production
is species-specific and repetitive, enabling passive acoustic monitoring
to identify the distribution and behavior of soniferous species.
Autonomous gliders that collect passive acoustic data and environmental
data concurrently can be used to establish the oceanographic conditions
surrounding sound-producing organisms. Three passive acoustic glider
missions were conducted off west-central Florida in October 2011, and
September and October 2012. The deployment period for two missions was
dictated by the presence of red tide events with the glider path
specifically set to encounter toxic Karenia brevis blooms (a.k.a red
tides). Oceanographic conditions measured by the glider were significantly
correlated to the variation in sounds from six known or suspected species
of fish across the three missions with depth consistently being the most
significant factor. At the time and space scales of this study, there was
no detectable effect of red tide on sound production. Sounds were still
recorded within red tide-affected waters from species with overlapping
depth ranges. These results suggest that the fishes studied here did not
alter their sound production nor migrate out of red tide-affected areas.
Although these results are preliminary because of the limited
measurements, the data and methods presented here provide a proof of
principle and could serve as protocol for future studies on the effects of
algal blooms on the behavior of soniferous fishes. To fully capture the
effects of episodic events, we suggest that stationary or vertically
profiling acoustic recorders and environmental sampling be used as a
complement to glider measurements.