Research Document - 2004/126
Effects of seismic and marine noise on invertebrates: A literature Review
By Moriyasu, M., R. Allain, K. Benhalima, R. Claytor
Abstract
The study on the effect of marine noises on invertebrate species is extremely limited. We have found 35 articles dealing with the possible effects of marine noise on invertebrates. Most of these are secondary or gray publications produced as internal industry reports, governmental technical reports, and other non-journal sources. Two sources of noise have been studied. The first, refractive seismographic surveys by explosives were examined in 15 articles. Nine of these described quantitative tests, two consisted of article reviews and two consisted of anecdotal information. However, seismographic surveys using explosives are an outdated method and do not add additional information to this study. The second source of noise, seismic surveys using air-guns were examined in 20 articles. The results of nine quantitative studies based on the summary by species and by sampling type showed five cases of immediate (lethal or physical) impacts and four cases of no impacts. One showed a case of physiological impacts and one article showed no physiological impact. Three cases showed behavioral impacts and one article showed no impact on behavior.
Through the current literature review, we recognized a total lack of the scientific documents on the possible impacts of seismic noise on marine invertebrates. In addition, among the literature cited in this document, a very limited number of experiments were scientifically and reasonably conducted. Squid (McCauley et al., 2000a) and crab behavior (Christian et al., 2003) have been studied by direct observations. Pre- and post seismic air-guns comparisons of catch rates were made by La Bella et al. (1996) and Christian et al. (2003) on various invertebrate species. The quantitative and anecdotal aspects of all other studies were inadequate for assessing the effects of explosives and seismic air-guns on invertebrates. In addition, in-depth analyses on physiological changes in animals exposed to seismic air-guns are quasi-absent.
The articles dealing with seismic effects on marine invertebrates are often difficult to obtain because they are mostly gray literature. As a result, many authors use report summaries rather than examining the original work. This has lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretation of the results of previous work. We found that it was often concluded that invertebrates are robust to noise from explosions and air-guns without support from empirical evidence.
Under the current knowledge on this subject, there is no robust scientific evidence to draw any conclusion (positive or negative effects). Any speculative description and opinion of the effects should not to be made and all concerned documents have to be thoroughly examined to properly cite the results of previous studies in order to avoid any misunderstandings or misconceptions. Marine invertebrates are important members of the marine habitat, food web and ecosystem. Comprehensive research programs should be instituted to thoroughly investigate the possible effects of the seismic activity on various marine invertebrates in order to buildup the scientific knowledge on this subject.
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