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From indoor to outdoor: Behavioural response of fish to noise exposure of different temporal structures

Yik Yaw Neo1*, Jeroen Hubert1, Hendrik V. Winter2, Hans Slabbekoorn1 and Carel Ten Cate1
  • 1 Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), Leiden University, Netherlands
  • 2 Institute for Marine Resources & Ecosystem Studies (IMARES), Wageningen University, Netherlands

Human activities, such as shipping and pile driving, produce substantial amounts of man-made noise underwater. The noise may negatively affect fish, causing physical injuries, hearing loss, physiological stress, acoustic masking and behavioural changes. Among these effects, behavioural changes are most problematic, but are understudied, especially under well-controlled field conditions. Moreover, man-made noise varies widely in terms of acoustic characteristics. The influence of temporal patterns of noise on the impacts is largely unknown. We exposed groups of European seabass to sound treatments of different temporal patterns, varying in intermittency, interval regularity and presence of amplitude 'ramp-up'. The study took place in a large octagonal floating pen (⌀ = ~12.5m) in Oosterschelde, a marine inlet in the Netherlands. We tracked the fish swimming trajectories with an acoustic 3D telemetry system and looked into the behavioural changes and recovery. Upon noise exposure, the fish swam to greater depths in tighter shoals, similar to previous studies conducted in a basin. Moreover, the fish swam away from the noise source, suggesting avoidance behaviour. The different temporal patterns seemed to differ in their impact strengths although the results were not significant. These findings may carry important scientific and management implications.

Acknowledgements

We thank James Campbell and Özkan Sertlek for their help on acoustic measurements. We thank Ewout Blom for arranging the purchase and transport of the fish to Stichting Zeeschelp. We also thank personnel from Stichting Zeeschelp, which includes Marco Dubbeldam, Bernd van Broekhoven, Mario de Kluijver and Sander Visch (Frymarine). Y.Y.N. was supported by a ZKO grant (839.10.522) from the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research (NWO).

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Keywords: Dicentrarchus labrax, Fish behaviour, Pile driving, Anthropogenic sound, Field studies, ramp-up

Conference: XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015.

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Topic: Physiology, Behavior and Toxicology

Citation: Neo Y, Hubert J, Winter HV, Slabbekoorn H and Ten Cate C (2015). From indoor to outdoor: Behavioural response of fish to noise exposure of different temporal structures. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XV European Congress of Ichthyology. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2015.03.00204

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Received: 07 Dec 2015; Published Online: 07 Dec 2015.

* Correspondence: Mr. Yik Yaw Neo, Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, y.y.neo.2@umail.leidenuniv.nl