Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Seawater Sampling and Collection
Published on: June 17, 2009
Mapping the Acoustic Soundscape off Vancouver Island Using the NEPTUNE Canada Ocean Observatory
Carrie C Wall Bell1,2, Rodney A Rountree3, Francis Juanes4
1Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado at Boulder, 325 Broadway E/GC3, Boulder, CO, 80305, USA. carrie.bell@colorado.edu.
Abstract:
NEPTUNE Canada is a cabled ocean observatory system containing five nodes located in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Using passive acoustic data recorded at two nodes (Folger Passage Deep and Barkley Canyon Axis) between June 2010 and May 2011, we sought to quantify the levels of vessel traffic and the occurrence of biological sounds to determine the potential impact of anthropogenic sound in masking acoustic communication. The results from a comparison of the relative amplitude and occurrence of low-frequency biotic sounds to broadband sounds resulting from vessel traffic are presented. Additional contributions to the marine soundscape from self-generated instrument noise are discussed.
Related Concept Videos
Perception of Sound Waves
The pitch of a sound depends on the frequency and the pressure amplitude of the source. Two sounds of the same...
Sound as Pressure Waves
The pressure fluctuation depends on the difference in displacements between the successive points in the...
Topographic Surveying and Contours
Methods of Obtaining Topography
Marine Microbial Ecology
Travelling Waves
Water waves, sound waves, and seismic waves are some examples of mechanical waves. For water waves, the wave propagation medium is...

