Characterising underwater noise and changes in harbour porpoise behaviour during the decommissioning of an oil and gas platform

Fernandez-Betelu, Oihane; Graham, Isla M.; Malcher, Freya; Webster, Emily; Cheong, Sei-Him; Wang, Lian; Iorio-Merlo, Virginia; Robinson, Stephen; Thompson, Paul M.
Marine Pollution Bulletin (2024)

Many man-made marine structures (MMS) will have to be decommissioned in the coming decades. While studies on the impacts of construction of MMS on marine mammals exist, no research has…


Millions of seafloor pits, not pockmarks, induced by vertebrates in the North Sea

Schneider von Deimling, Jens; Hoffmann, Jasper; Geersen, Jacob; Koschinski, Sven; Lohrberg, Arne; Gilles, Anita; Belkin, Igor; Böttner, Christoph; Papenmeier, Svenja; Krastel, Sebastian
Communications Earth & Environment (2023)

Seabed pockmarks are among the most prominent morphologic structures in the oceans. They are usually interpreted as surface manifestation of hydrocarbon fluids venting from sediments. Here we suggest an alternative…


Ship noise causes tagged harbour porpoises to change direction or dive deeper

Frankish, Caitlin K.; von Benda-Beckmann, Alexander M.; Teilmann, Jonas; Tougaard, Jakob; Dietz, Rune; Sveegaard, Signe; Binnerts, Bas; de Jong, Christ A. F.; Nabe-Nielsen, Jacob
Marine Pollution Bulletin (2023)

Shipping is the most pervasive source of marine noise pollution globally, yet its impact on sensitive fauna remains unclear. We tracked 10 harbour porpoises for 5–10 days to determine exposure…


The first case of reintroduction and behavioral adaptability of Yangtze finless porpoise

Qiu, Jian-Song; Sun, Xiao-Dong; Wang, Ding; Hao, Yu-Jiang; Zheng, Jing-Song; Li, Wei-Lun; Fan, Fei; Deng, Xiao-Jun; Mao, Jun-Feng; Zeng, Qiang; Jiang, Hua-Yan; Deng, Zai-Gui; Gong, Cheng; Xu, Chun-Yong; Wang, Ke-Xiong; Mei, Zhi-Gang
Acta Hydrobiologica Sinica (2023)

The ex situ conservation of the first-class protected animal in China, Yangtze finless porpoise (YFP), have gained preliminary success. As the last step in ex situ conservation, reintroduction is an…


Wild harbour porpoises startle and flee at low received levels from acoustic harassment device

Elmegaard, Siri L.; Teilmann, Jonas; Rojano-Doñate, Laia; Brennecke, Dennis; Mikkelsen, Lonnie; Balle, Jeppe D.; Gosewinkel, Ulrich; Kyhn, Line A.; Tønnesen, Pernille; Wahlberg, Magnus; Ruser, Andreas; Siebert, Ursula; Madsen, Peter Teglberg
Scientific Reports (2023)

Acoustic Harassment Devices (AHD) are widely used to deter marine mammals from aquaculture depredation, and from pile driving operations that may otherwise cause hearing damage. However, little is known about…


Implications of porpoise echolocation and dive behaviour on passive acoustic monitoring

Macaulay, Jamie Donald John; Rojano-Doñate, Laia; Ladegaard, Michael; Tougaard, Jakob; Teilmann, Jonas; Marques, Tiago A.; Siebert, Ursula; Madsen, Peter Teglberg
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (2023)

Harbour porpoises are visually inconspicuous but highly soniferous echolocating marine predators that are regularly studied using passive acoustic monitoring (PAM). PAM can provide quality data on animal abundance, human impact,…


Harassment and killing of porpoises (“phocoenacide”) by fish‐eating Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca)

Giles, Deborah A.; Teman, Sarah J.; Ellis, Samuel; Ford, John K. B.; Shields, Monika W.; Hanson, M. Bradley; Emmons, Candice K.; Cottrell, Paul E.; Baird, Robin W.; Osborne, Richard W.; Weiss, Michael; Ellifrit, David K.; Olson, Jennifer K.; Towers, Jared R.; Ellis, Graeme; Matkin, Dena; Smith, Courtney E.; Raverty, Stephen A.; Norman, Stephanie A.; Gaydos, Joseph K.
Marine Mammal Science (2023)

Endangered Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) are fish-eaters that preferentially prey on adult Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Despite being salmon specialists, individuals from all three killer whale pods (J,…


Vorticity preference of the Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) during the dry season at the Wanhe River Estuary confluence

Ding, Rui; Zhang, Xiaoke; Chen, Minmin; Lian, Yuxi; Yu, Daoping
Ecological Modelling (2023)

The Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) is critically endangered. Finless porpoises rely on small fish as their primary food source. Fish distribution is impacted by topography and vorticity (i.e., water…