Effects of Geophony and Anthrophony on the Underwater Acoustic Environment in the East Siberian Sea, Arctic Ocean

Abstract

Abstract As Arctic warming accelerates, the underwater acoustic environment in the Arctic Ocean is rapidly changing. We present the first results of passive acoustic monitoring in the marginal ice zone of the East Siberian Sea (ESS). A high sea ice concentration (SIC) and seasonal variations in ice cover make the ESS an ideal region to verify how ambient sound levels respond to natural physical processes and anthropogenic activities during summer. Our observations show that the sound level in the ESS exhibits a strong negative correlation with SIC, and the sound level in September, which was higher than that in other months, was 16 dB higher than the annual average. This increase resulted from geophony and anthrophony with the reduction in the SIC, and sound level increased by 13 dB without anthrophony. Our results indicate that ambient sound level in the Arctic Ocean may increase as climate change accelerates sea ice melting.

Plain Language Summary Arctic ambient noise is expected to increase by the dramatic retreat of sea ice coverage in recent years. We present the first study to validate the effects of both geophony and anthrophony on the ambient noise associated with the great reduction of sea ice in the East Siberian Sea (ESS), Arctic Ocean, one of the acoustically primitive places on Earth. ESS is the relatively quiet sea in the presence of solid sea ice compared to other places in the Arctic Ocean, whereas ambient noise level shows a clear seasonal variability, largely determined by sea ice conditions. During open water season, ambient noise level is highly increased showing 16 dB higher than the annual average. This increase results from geophony and anthrophony and the ambient sound level increased by 13 dB without Anthrophony. Our results indicate that Arctic ambient noise will be highly increased by the effect of geophonic and anthrophonic noise in the future as climate change accelerates sea ice melting. These observations are of sufficiently broad interest for the public as well as the scientific community since they provide vital scientific evidence to develop a mitigation strategy for marine ecology and marine pollution in the Arctic Ocean.