title: Behavioral Response of Reef Fish and Green Sea Turtles to Midfrequency Sonar.
abstract: There is growing concern over the potential effects of high-intensity sonar on wild fish populations and commercial fisheries. Acoustic telemetry was employed to measure the movements of free-ranging reef fish and sea turtles in Port Canaveral, FL, in response to routine submarine sonar testing. Twenty-five sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus), 28 gray snapper (Lutjanus griseus), and 29 green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) were tagged, with movements monitored for a period of up to 4 months using an array of passive acoustic receivers. Baseline residency was examined for fish and sea turtles before, during, and after the test event. No mortality of tagged fish or sea turtles was evident from the sonar test event. There was a significant increase in the daily residency index for both sheepshead and gray snapper at the testing wharf subsequent to the event. No broad-scale movement from the study site was observed during or immediately after the test.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Division, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI, 02841, USA. stephanie.watwood@navy.mil.
authors.forename: Stephanie L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Watwood
authors.affiliation: Environmental Division, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Newport, RI, 02841, USA. joseph.iafrate@navy.mil.
authors.forename: Joseph D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Iafrate
authors.affiliation: Kennedy Space Center Ecological Program and Environmental Services, InoMedic Health Applications, Inc, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, FL, 32899, USA. eric.a.reyier@nasa.gov.
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Reyier
authors.affiliation: Marine Turtle Research Group, Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, 32816, USA. bredfoot@cfl.rr.com.
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Redfoot
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D057894:Coral Reefs; D005399:Fishes / Q000502:physiology*; D005431:Florida; D013016:Sound; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D014426:Turtles / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Anthropogenic noise; Fish; Sea turtles; Sonar; Tagging; Telemetry