Assessment of the effect of anthropogenic noise on small odontocetes to establish management guidelines

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25550082
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Environmental and ecological symbiosis
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: YODA Ken 名古屋大学, 環境学研究科, 教授 (10378606)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 受動的音響観測 / 船舶騒音 / 小型鯨類 / 保全

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Stationary and towing passive acoustic surveys were conducted for a population of the finless porpoise Neophocaena aiaorientaris sunameri in Ise and Mikawa bay to reveal effects of anthropogenic noise on their ecology. This species has strong adherence to Asian coastal area and overlap with the distributions of other whales and dolphins. It seems that the finless porpoise distributions around ship channels are influenced more by prey distribution than by anthropogenic noise. Results of the stationary monitoring show that density of the porpoises was high even in the ferry route. Porpoises were, however, were rarely present within 50 m from the survey ship, which was considered as avoidance behavior. The porpoise may keep “a safe distance” from the ship.

Free Research Field

動物行動学