Citation

McKenna MF, Wiggins SM, Hildebrand JA, Ross D. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 2011; 130(4): 2557.

Affiliation

Scripps Inst. of Oceanogr., Univ. of California San Diego, Ritter Hall 200E, 8635 Kennel Way, La Jolla, CA 92093-0205, megan.mckenna@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, American Institute of Physics)

DOI

10.1121/1.3655243

PMID

21974397

Abstract

Underwater ambient noise levels measured off the coast of southern California were correlated with regional changes in commercial shipping trade. Between 2007 and 2010, two events occurred that resulted in a decrease in ship traffic in the Santa Barbara Channel: the economic recession and a coastal air-quality improvement rule. From October 2005 to June 2010, monthly low-frequency ambient noise levels at a site 3 km from a major shipping route were compared to regional traffic levels. Two different metrics of ship traffic showed that on average a 1 dB reduction in low-frequency noise levels resulted from a decrease in traffic by one ship passage per day in a coastal basin.

Language: en