MEPS prepress abstract   -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14813

ABSTRACT: Baseline characterisation of the acoustic underwater environment is integral to understanding change to a locations’ soundscape. We used passive acoustic monitoring to investigate the soundscape of a seasonally ice covered, shallow marine environment close to a permanently occupied research station in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica, from July (winter ice cover) 2021 through to February (summer open water) 2022. We applied a suite of automated detectors to detect sounds, with manual analysis of a subset of recordings to validate automated detections and characterise the detectors’ performance. From July until late-November, the land fast ice-cover had a dampening effect on mean daily ambient underwater sound pressure levels. The anthropophony of the ice-covered environment included contributions from aircraft landings and the movements of over-ice vehicles. The biophony was most influenced by the sounds of Weddell, crabeater and leopard seals, and Antarctic minke whales. Mean daily sound levels increased immediately as the ice-cover decreased, and the sea surface became exposed to the effects of wind. The soundscape of the open-water/drifting pack-ice environment then altered to contain noise from ship and small boat activities, and vocalisations of killer whales, and leopard and Ross seals. The results demonstrate a study site with high seasonality in natural sound sources and an unprecedented contribution of noise from human activities during the period of ice-cover. It is likely there is a year-round contribution of anthropogenic noise into the Antarctic coastal marine environment close to research stations that are often co-located with regional hot-spots in faunal occurrences.