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NOAA Ocean Noise Reference Station Network
This unique network of hydrophones is a collaborative effort between OAR’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), all NMFS Science Centers, the NOS National Marine Sanctuary System, and the National Park Service to establish and collect consistent and comparable long-term acoustic data sets covering all major regions of the U.S.
Click here for larger globe view. (Note that NRS10, Ofu Island, American Samoa, is not shown on this map.)
For a Google Earth view of the stations, open the kmz file here.
Background:
Passive acoustic monitoring of the ocean ambient sound field is a critical aspect of NOAA’s mandate for ocean and coastal stewardship. This includes detecting and characterizing: (1) sounds produced and used by living marine resources (e.g., endangered marine mammals); (2) natural sources of noise from physical oceanographic processes; and (3) anthropogenic noise sources that contribute to the overall ocean noise environment. Noise generated by anthropogenic activities (especially commercial shipping and seismic oil & gas exploration) is increasingly being recognized as a potential threat to marine mammals which are protected in the U.S. by the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. Current scientific data suggest that increased ambient noise levels impact marine mammals by hindering communication (Hatch et al. 2012), altering communication behavior (Parks et al. 2013), altering locomotive behavior (Pirotta et al. 2013), and inducing stress (Rolland et al. 2012).
Additional concerns associated with the degraded acoustic quality of diverse habitats broaden these concerns to include possible repercussions for fish and invertebrate species, many of which NOAA manages as commercially-harvested, protects as resources within sanctuaries, or studies as key elements to sustaining healthy ecosystems. For these reasons it is important for science-based regulatory agencies including NOAA to monitor long-term trends and changes in the ambient sound field.
Research Objective:
The objective of the proposed project is to establish a network of initially ten ocean noise reference stations in U.S. waters to monitor long-term changes and trends in the underwater ambient sound field (McDonald et al. 2006). Our plan is to deploy identical autonomous acoustic recording systems developed in-house at PMEL at each reference station to ensure proper calibration and consistency of the collected data sets. The hydrophone moorings will be deployed in the following areas:
Second Deployments:
| Station | Partners | Deployed | Ship | Lat | Lon | Water depth [m] |
| NRS01 | NOAA/AFSC | 9-Sep-2016 | R/V Aquila | 72.4430 | -156.5517 | 1000 |
| NRS02 | NOAA/PMEL | Summer 2016 | CCGS John P. Tully | 50.2500 | -145.1300 | 4,250 |
| NRS03 | NOAA/NWFSC & NOAA/OCNMS | 1-Oct-2015 | R/V Bell M Shimada | 47.7651 | -125.5222 | 936 |
| NRS04 | NOAA/PIFSC | Spring 2017 | TBD | 22.3333 | -157.6667 | ~4,900 |
| NRS05 | NOAA/SWFSC | 5-Nov-2015 | R/V Ruben Lasker | 33.9000 | -119.5820 | 1,000 |
| NRS06 | NOAA/SEFSC | late March/early April |
R/V Gordon Gunter | 28.2502 | -86.8327 | 1230 |
| NRS07 | NOAA/SEFSC | late March/early April | R/V Gordon Gunter | 29.3336 | -77.9995 | 870 |
| NRS08 | NOAA/NEFSC | April 2016 | TBD | 40.1300 | -66.2499 | ~3,550 |
| NRS09 | NOAA/SBNMS | 17-Sep-2015 | R/V Auk | 42.4037 | -70.1294 | 79 |
| NRS10 | NPS/NPAS | Spring 2016 | Small NPS R/V | -14.2686 | -170.7196 | 33 |
| NRS11 | NOAA/CBNMS | Fall 2016 | TBD | 37.8808 | -123.4353 | 534 |
First Deployments:
| Station | Partners | Deployed | Ship | Lat | Lon | Water depth [m] |
| NRS01 | NOAA/AFSC | 01-Oct-2014 | R/V Aquila | 72.4900 | -156.6018 | 991 |
| NRS02 | NOAA/PMEL | 02-Jan-2015 | R/V Thomas G. Thompson | 50.2500 | -145.1300 | 4,250 |
| NRS03 | NOAA/NWFSC & NOAA/OCNMS | 21-Sep-2014 | R/V Bell M Shimada | 47.7631 | -125.5184 | 921 |
| NRS04 | NOAA/PIFSC | proposed for July 2014 | R/V Hi'ialakai | 22.3333 | -157.6667 | ~4,900 |
| NRS05 | NOAA/SWFSC | 17-Oct-2014 | R/V Ocean Starr | 33.9000 | -119.5800 | 1,000 |
| NRS06 | NOAA/SEFSC | 30-Jul-2014 | R/V Gordon Gunter | 28.0062 | -86.9937 | 2,790 |
| NRS07 | NOAA/SEFSC | 19-Apr-2015 | R/V Gordon Gunter | 29.3336 | -77.9995 | 870 |
| NRS08 | NOAA/NEFSC | 11-Jun-2014 | R/V Gloria Michelle | 40.1300 | -66.2499 | ~3,550 |
| NRS09 | NOAA/SBNMS | 29-Oct-2014 | R/V Auk | 42.4041 | -70.1300 | 78 |
| NRS10 | NPS | 09-Jun-2015 | Small NPS R/V | -14.2686 | -170.7196 | 33 |
It is of critical importance to begin these baseline measurements now so we can establish as long a time series as possible to gauge the changes induced by anthropogenic and climate stressors on the marine ambient sound environment (for a summary see Hildebrand 2009). We will investigate the spatio-temporal variability in low-frequency deep ocean ambient sound levels (10 - 2,200 Hz) at these nine ocean regions within the U.S. EEZ. Once this network of instruments is deployed, our goal will be to maintain and expand (e.g., Mariana Islands) the array and build a multi-year record of ambient sound levels in these regions. We will then be able to identify and delineate seasonal and long-term man-made and climate-induced noise sources.
Investigators:
| Holger Klinck, Robert P. Dziak, Haru Matsumoto, David K. Mellinger NOAA/PMEL/CIMRS 2115 SE OSU Drive Newport, OR 97365 |
Holger.Klinck@noaa.gov Robert.P.Dziak@noaa.gov Haru.Matsumoto@noaa.gov David.K.Mellinger@noaa.gov |
| Jay Barlow NOAA/SWFSC 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive La Jolla, CA 92037 Jay.Barlow@noaa.gov |
Catherine Berchok NOAA/AFSC 7600 Sand Point Way NE Seattle, WA 98115 Catherine.Berchok@noaa.gov |
| Brad Hanson, Marla Holt NOAA/NWFSC 2725 Montlake Boulevard East Seattle, WA 98112 Brad.Hanson@noaa.gov Marla.Holt@noaa.gov |
Leila Hatch Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary 175 Edward Foster Road Scituate, MA 02066 Leila.Hatch@noaa.gov |
| Christian Meinig 7600 Sand Point Way NE Seattle, WA 98115 Christian.Meinig@noaa.gov |
Erin Oleson NOAA/PIFSC 1601 Kapiolani Boulevard Honolulu, HI 96814 Erin.Oleson@noaa.gov |
| Melissa Soldevilla NOAAA/SEFSC 75 Virginia Beach Drive Miami, FL 33149 Melissa.Soldevilla@noaa.gov |
Sofie Van Parijs NOAA/NEFSC 166 Water Street Woods Hole, MA 02543 Sofie.VanParijs@noaa.gov |
References:
Hatch, L.T., Clark, C.W., Van Parijs, S.M., Frankel, A.S., and Ponirakis D.W. (2012): Quantifying loss of acoustic communication space for right whales in and around a U.S. National Marine Sanctuary. Conservation Biology, 26:983-994.
Hildebrand, J.A. (2009): Anthropogenic and natural sources of ambient noise in the ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 395:5-20.
McDonald, M.A., Hildebrand, J.A., and Wiggins, S. M. (2006): Increase in deep ocean ambient noise in the Northeast Pacific west of San Nicolas Island, California. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1520:711-718.
Porter, M., and Henderson, L. (2013): Global ocean soundscapes. Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, 19:010050 (6 pages).
Parks, S.E., Johnson, M.P., Nowacek, D.P., and Tyack, P.L. (2012): Changes in Vocal Behavior of North Atlantic Right Whales in Increased Noise. In: The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life, Popper, A.N., Hawkins, A. eds., Springer, pp. 317-320.
Pirotta, E., Milor, R., Moretti, D., Di Marzio, N., Tyack, P.L., and Hastie, G. (2013): Vessel Noise Affects Beaked Whale Behavior: Results of a Dedicated Acoustic Response Study. PLoS ONE, 7(8):e42535.
Rolland, R.M., Parks, S.E., Hunt, K.E., Castellote, M., Corkeron, P.J., Nowacek, D.P., Wasser, S.K., and Kraus, S.D. (2012): Evidence that ship noise increases stress in right whales. Proceedings of the Royal Society B., 279:2363-2368.