News Finding: Our research finds that vessel slowdowns could indeed be a viable strategy for lowering noise impacts on whales, seals, and fish, with the added benefit of reducing the likelihood of collisions.
Paper Finding: The results are likely insensitive to the estimate of critical bandwidth, because the bandwidths of calls and masking noise are generally wider than the critical bandwidth; thus using a wider band increases the level of both the call and masking noise, keeping signal to noise ratio constant.
News Context: This finding is especially important since ambient noise from waves and winds is increasing in an Arctic environment that is experiencing ever longer periods without sound-dampening ice. Our research finds that vessel slowdowns could indeed be a viable strategy for lowering noise impacts on whales, seals, and fish, with the added benefit of reducing the likelihood of collisions. While negotiating the Northwest Passage may be less treacherous in the future for cruise ship passengers who thrill at the sight of whales plunging through Arctic waters, melting ice that opens up new sea lanes comes with a new threat for marine life.
Paper Context: (7) is quite stable since it does not require knowledge of the prey/caller's source level or the receiver's detection threshold (two parameters that have high variability and uncertainty between species). The results are likely insensitive to the estimate of critical bandwidth, because the bandwidths of calls and masking noise are generally wider than the critical bandwidth; thus using a wider band increases the level of both the call and masking noise, keeping signal to noise ratio constant. This time period is representative of most ship traffic in the region (based on AIS data from 2012 to 2017 (Halliday, unpublished data) ) and Sachs Harbour is the only location in the study region where ambient sound measurements have been undertaken.