Bonnel
Julien
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Julien
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ArticleTrans-dimensional inversion of modal dispersion data on the New England Mud Patch(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2019-02-19) Bonnel, Julien ; Dosso, Stan ; Eleftherakis, Dimitrios ; Chapman, RossThis paper presents single receiver geoacoustic inversion of two independent data sets recorded during the 2017 seabed characterization experiment on the New England Mud Patch. In the experimental area, the water depth is around 70 m, and the seabed is characterized by an upper layer of fine grained sediments with clay (i.e., mud). The first data set considered in this paper is a combustive sound source signal, and the second is a chirp emitted by a J15 source. These two data sets provide differing information on the geoacoustic properties of the seabed, as a result of their differing frequency content, and the dispersion properties of the environment. For both data sets, source/receiver range is about 7 km, and modal time-frequency dispersion curves are estimated using warping. Estimated dispersion curves are then used as input data for a Bayesian trans-dimensional inversion algorithm. Subbottom layering and geoacoustic parameters (sound speed and density) are thus inferred from the data. This paper highlights important properties of the mud, consistent with independent in situ measurements. It also demonstrates how information content differs for two data sets collected on reciprocal tracks, but with different acoustic sources and modal content.
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ArticleSpiny lobster sounds can be detectable over kilometres underwater(Nature Research, 2020-05-21) Jézéquel, Youenn ; Chauvaud, Laurent ; Bonnel, JulienThe detection ranges of broadband sounds produced by marine invertebrates are not known. To address this deficiency, a linear array of hydrophones was built in a shallow water area to experimentally investigate the propagation features of the sounds from various sizes of European spiny lobsters (Palinurus elephas), recorded between 0.5 and 100 m from the animals. The peak-to-peak source levels (SL, measured at one meter from the animals) varied significantly with body size, the largest spiny lobsters producing SL up to 167 dB re 1 µPa2. The sound propagation and its attenuation with the distance were quantified using the array. This permitted estimation of the detection ranges of spiny lobster sounds. Under the high ambient noise conditions recorded in this study, the sounds propagated between 5 and 410 m for the smallest and largest spiny lobsters, respectively. Considering lower ambient noise levels and different realistic propagation conditions, spiny lobster sounds can be detectable up to several kilometres away from the animals, with sounds from the largest individuals propagating over 3 km. Our results demonstrate that sounds produced by P. elephas can be utilized in passive acoustic programs to monitor and survey this vulnerable species at kilometre scale in coastal waters.
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ArticleLow-frequency ocean ambient noise on the Chukchi Shelf in the changing Arctic(Acoustical Society of America, 2021-06-09) Bonnel, Julien ; Kinda, G. Bazile ; Zitterbart, DanielThis article presents the study of a passive acoustic dataset recorded on the Chukchi Shelf from October 2016 to July 2017 during the Canada Basin Acoustic Propagation Experiment (CANAPE). The study focuses on the low-frequency (250–350 Hz) ambient noise (after individual transient signals are removed) and its environmental drivers. A specificity of the experimental area is the Beaufort Duct, a persistent warm layer intrusion of variable extent created by climate change, which favors long-range acoustic propagation. The Chukchi Shelf ambient noise shows traditional polar features: it is quieter and wind force influence is reduced when the sea is ice-covered. However, the study reveals two other striking features. First, if the experimental area is covered with ice, the ambient noise drops by up to 10 dB/Hz when the Beaufort Duct disappears. Further, a large part of the noise variability is driven by distant cryogenic events, hundreds of kilometers away from the acoustic receivers. This was quantified using correlations between the CANAPE acoustic data and distant ice-drift magnitude data (National Snow and Ice Data Center).
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ArticleAcoustic behaviour of male European lobsters (Homarus gammarus) during agonistic encounters(Company of Biologists, 2020-02-19) Jézéquel, Youenn ; Coston-Guarini, Jennifer ; Chauvaud, Laurent ; Bonnel, JulienPrevious studies have demonstrated that male European lobsters (Homarus gammarus) use chemical and visual signals as a means of intraspecific communication during agonistic encounters. In this study, we show that they also produce buzzing sounds during these encounters. This result was missed in earlier studies because low-frequency buzzing sounds are highly attenuated in tanks, and are thus difficult to detect with hydrophones. To address this issue, we designed a behavioural tank experiment using hydrophones, with accelerometers placed on the lobsters to directly detect their carapace vibrations (i.e. the sources of the buzzing sounds). While we found that both dominant and submissive individuals produced carapace vibrations during every agonistic encounter, very few of the associated buzzing sounds (15%) were recorded by the hydrophones. This difference is explained by their high attenuation in tanks. We then used the method of algorithmic complexity to analyse the carapace vibration sequences as call-and-response signals between dominant and submissive individuals. Even though some intriguing patterns appeared for closely size-matched pairs (<5 mm carapace length difference), the results of the analysis did not permit us to infer that the processes underlying these sequences could be differentiated from random ones. Thus, such results prevented any conclusions about acoustic communication. This concurs with both the high attenuation of the buzzing sounds during the experiments and the poor understanding of acoustic perception by lobsters. New approaches that circumvent tank acoustic issues are now required to validate the existence of acoustic communication in lobsters.
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ArticleUnderstanding deep-water striation patterns and predicting the waveguide invariant as a distribution depending on range and depth(Acoustical Society of America, 2018-06-08) Emmetiere, Remi ; Bonnel, Julien ; Gehant, Marie ; Cristol, Xavier ; Chonavel, ThierryThe Waveguide Invariant (WI) theory has been introduced to quantify the orientation of the intensity interference patterns in a range-frequency domain. When the sound speed is constant over the water column, the WI is a scalar with the canonical value of 1. But, when considering shallow waters with a stratified sound speed profile, the WI ceases to be constant and is more appropriately described by a distribution, which is mainly sensitive to source/receiver depths. Such configurations have been widely investigated, with practical applications including passive source localization. However, in deep waters, the interference pattern is much more complex and variable. In fact the observed WI varies with source/receiver depth but it also varies very quickly with source-array range. In this paper, the authors investigate two phenomena responsible for this variability, namely the dominance of the acoustic field by groups of modes and the frequency dependence of the eigenmodes. Using a ray-mode approach, these two features are integrated in a WI distribution derivation. Their importance in deep-water is validated by testing the calculated WI distribution against a reference distribution directly measured on synthetic data. The proposed WI derivation provides a thorough way to predict and understand the striation patterns in deep-water context.
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ArticleNonlinear time-warping made simple: a step-by-step tutorial on underwater acoustic modal separation with a single hydrophone(Acoustical Society of America, 2020-03-25) Bonnel, Julien ; Thode, Aaron ; Wright, Dana ; Chapman, RossClassical ocean acoustic experiments involve the use of synchronized arrays of sensors. However, the need to cover large areas and/or the use of small robotic platforms has evoked interest in single-hydrophone processing methods for localizing a source or characterizing the propagation environment. One such processing method is “warping,” a non-linear, physics-based signal processing tool dedicated to decomposing multipath features of low-frequency transient signals (frequency f < 500 Hz), after their propagation through shallow water (depth D < 200 m) and their reception on a distant single hydrophone (range r > 1 km). Since its introduction to the underwater acoustics community in 2010, warping has been adopted in the ocean acoustics literature, mostly as a pre-processing method for single receiver geoacoustic inversion. Warping also has potential applications in other specialties, including bioacoustics; however, the technique can be daunting to many potential users unfamiliar with its intricacies. Consequently, this tutorial article covers basic warping theory, presents simulation examples, and provides practical experimental strategies. Accompanying supplementary material provides matlab code and simulated and experimental datasets for easy implementation of warping on both impulsive and frequency-modulated signals from both biotic and man-made sources. This combined material should provide interested readers with user-friendly resources for implementing warping methods into their own research.
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ArticleMaximum entropy inference of seabed properties using waveguide invariant features from surface ships(Acoustical Society of America, 2022-04-28) Knobles, David P. ; Neilsen, Tracianne B. ; Wilson, Preston S. ; Hodgkiss, William S. ; Bonnel, Julien ; Lin, Ying-Tsongcoustic data were recorded on two vertical line arrays (VLAs) deployed in the New England Mud Patch during the Seabed Characterization Experiment 2017 in about 75 m of water. The sound recorded during the passage of merchant ships permits identification of singular points for the waveguide invariant β for mode pairs (1,𝑛):𝛽1,𝑛,for 𝑛=2,3,4,5, in the 15–80 Hz band. Using prior geophysical information and an acoustic data sample from the merchant ship KALAMATA, a geoacoustic model 𝔐 of the seabed was developed. Then, using data samples from other merchant ships, a feature-ensemble maximum entropy method is employed to infer the statistical properties of geoacoustic parameter values for the sound speeds in a surface mud layer and a deep sand layer. Technical challenges include a sparsity of observed singular points, the unique identification of mode pairs for an observed singular point, and the deviation of the waveguide from horizontal stratification. A geoacoustic model 𝔐 is developed that reproduced the observed 𝛽≈−1 for f < 20 Hz and mode cutoff features at about 15 Hz. The statistical low-frequency inference of the singular point structure from multiple ships provides evidence of an angle of intromission at the water sediment interface with an average sound speed ratio of about 0.986 and an average sound speed for the deeper sand layer of about 1775 m/s.
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ArticleSound detection by the American lobster (Homarus americanus)(The Company of Biologists, 2021-03-25) Jézéquel, Youenn ; Jones, Ian T. ; Bonnel, Julien ; Chauvaud, Laurent ; Atema, Jelle ; Mooney, T. AranAlthough many crustaceans produce sounds, their hearing abilities and mechanisms are poorly understood, leaving uncertainties regarding whether or how these animals use sound for acoustic communication. Marine invertebrates lack gas-filled organs required for sound pressure detection, but some of them are known to be sensitive to particle motion. Here, we examined whether the American lobster (Homarus americanus) could detect sound and subsequently sought to discern the auditory mechanisms. Acoustic stimuli responses were measured using auditory evoked potential (AEP) methods. Neurophysiological responses were obtained from the brain using tone pips between 80 and 250 Hz, with best sensitivity at 80–120 Hz. There were no significant differences between the auditory thresholds of males and females. Repeated controls (recordings from deceased lobsters, moving electrodes away from the brain and reducing seawater temperature) indicated the evoked potentials' neuronal origin. In addition, AEP responses were similar before and after antennules (including statocysts) were ablated, demonstrating that the statocysts, a long-proposed auditory structure in crustaceans, are not the sensory organs responsible for lobster sound detection. However, AEPs could be eliminated (or highly reduced) after immobilizing hairfans, which cover much of lobster bodies. These results suggest that these external cuticular hairs are likely to be responsible for sound detection, and imply that hearing is mechanistically possible in a wider array of invertebrates than previously considered. Because the lobsters' hearing range encompasses the fundamental frequency of their buzzing sounds, it is likely that they use sound for intraspecific communication, broadening our understanding of the sensory ecology of this commercially vital species. The lobsters' low-frequency acoustic sensitivity also underscores clear concerns about the potential impacts of anthropogenic noise.
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ArticleAn experimental benchmark for geoacoustic inversion methods(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2020-01-17) Bonnel, Julien ; Pecknold, Sean ; Hines, Paul C. ; Chapman, RossOver the past 25 years, there has been significant research activity in development and application of methods for inverting acoustical field data to estimate parameters of geoacoustic models of the ocean bottom. Although the performance of various geoacoustic inversion methods has been benchmarked on simulated data, their performance with experimental data remains an open question. This article constitutes the first attempt of an experimental benchmark of geoacoustic inversion methods. To do so, the article focuses on data from experiments carried out at a common site during the Shallow Water 2006 (SW06) experiment. The contribution of the article is twofold. First, the article provides an overview of experimental inversion methods and results obtained with SW06 data. Second, the article proposes and uses quantitative metrics to assess the experimental performance of inversion methods. From a sonar performance point of view, the benchmark shows that no particular geoacoustic inversion method is definitely better than any other of the ones that were tested. All the inversion methods generated adequate sound-speed profiles, but only a few methods estimated attenuation and density. Also, acoustical field prediction performance drastically reduces with range for all geoacoustic models, and this performance loss dominates over intermodel variability. Overall, the benchmark covers the two main objectives of geoacoustic inversion: obtaining geophysical information about the seabed, and/or predicting acoustic propagation in a given area.
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ArticleTOSSIT: a low-cost, hand deployable, rope-less and acoustically silent mooring for underwater passive acoustic monitoring(Elsevier, 2022-04-19) Zitterbart, Daniel ; Bocconcelli, Alessandro ; Ochs, Miles ; Bonnel, JulienPassive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) has been used to study the ocean for decades across several fields to answer biological, geological and meteorological questions such as marine mammal presence, measures of anthropogenic noise in the ocean, and monitoring and prediction of underwater earthquakes and tsunamis. While in previous decades the high cost of acoustic instruments limited its use, miniaturization and microprocessor advances dramatically reduced the cost for passive acoustic monitoring instruments making PAM available for a broad scientific community. Such low-cost devices are often deployed by divers or on mooring lines with a surface buoy, which limit their use to diving depth and coastal regions. Here, we present a low-cost, low self-noise and hand-deployable PAM mooring design, called TOSSIT. It can be used in water as deep as 500 m, and can be deployed and recovered by hand by a single operator (more comfortably with two) in a small boat. The TOSSIT modular mooring system consists of a light and strong non-metallic frame that can fit a variety of sensors including PAM instruments, acoustic releases, additional power packages, environmental parameter sensors. The TOSSIT’s design is rope-less, which removes any risk of entanglement and keeps the self-noise very low.
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ArticleSound characterization of the European lobster Homarus gammarus in tanks(Inter-Research, 2018-05-03) Jézéquel, Youenn ; Bonnel, Julien ; Coston-Guarini, Jennifer ; Guarini, Jean-Marc ; Chauvaud, LaurentExperiments in marine behavioural ecology rely heavily on observations made in tanks. However, when studying acoustic behaviours of marine animals in confined volumes, the effects of reverberation must be characterized, something that has been overlooked in parts of the marine ecology literature. In this study, we characterized reverberation in tanks using an artificial sound source and examined the implications for bioacoustic studies using sounds emitted by the European lobster Homarus gammarus during feeding and in response to stress. Broadband and transient sounds commonly produced by crustaceans were severely impacted by reverberation such that their spectral characteristics and pulse width durations could not be assessed. In contrast, low-frequency sounds could be characterized in tanks, but not their source level. Based on these observations, we describe a simple methodology to identify which sound characteristics can be measured in tanks. When feeding, the lobsters produced broadband and transient sounds called ‘rattles’, similar to sounds reported for tropical spiny lobsters Palinurus longipes and P. argus. When stressed, H. gammarus vibrated its carapace, producing a low-frequency sound analogous to the ‘buzzing’ sound of the American lobster H. americanus. The potential role of species-specific sound is discussed; however, although our observations represent the first bioacoustic characterization of H. gammarus, additional behavioural studies are necessary to understand their ecological meaning.
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ArticlePolarization of ocean acoustic normal modes(Acoustical Society of America, 2021-09-15) Bonnel, Julien ; Flamant, Julien ; Dall'Osto, David R. ; Le Bihan, Nicolas ; Dahl, Peter H.In ocean acoustics, shallow water propagation is conveniently described using normal mode propagation. This article proposes a framework to describe the polarization of normal modes, as measured using a particle velocity sensor in the water column. To do so, the article introduces the Stokes parameters, a set of four real-valued quantities widely used to describe polarization properties in wave physics, notably for light. Stokes parameters of acoustic normal modes are theoretically derived, and a signal processing framework to estimate them is introduced. The concept of the polarization spectrogram, which enables the visualization of the Stokes parameters using data from a single vector sensor, is also introduced. The whole framework is illustrated on simulated data as well as on experimental data collected during the 2017 Seabed Characterization Experiment. By introducing the Stokes framework used in many other fields, the article opens the door to a large set of methods developed and used in other contexts but largely ignored in ocean acoustics.
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ArticleBroad-scale study of the seasonal and geographic occurrence of blue and fin whales in the Southern Indian Ocean(Inter-Research, 2018-12-13) Leroy, Emmanuelle C. ; Samaran, Flore ; Stafford, Kathleen M. ; Bonnel, Julien ; Royer, Jean-YvesThe southern Indian Ocean is believed to be a natural territory for blue and fin whales. However, decades after commercial and illegal whaling decimated these populations, little is known about their current status, seasonal habitat or movements. Recent passive acoustic studies have described the presence of 4 acoustic populations of blue whales (Antarctic and 3 ‘pygmy’ types), but are generally limited temporally and geographically. Here, we examine up to 7 yr of continuous acoustic recordings (2010−2016) from a hydrophone network of 6 widely spaced sites in the southern Indian Ocean, looking for the presence of Antarctic and pygmy blue and fin whales. Power spectral density analyses of characteristic and distinct frequency bands of these species show seasonal and geographic differences among the different populations, and the overall patterns for each display interannual consistencies in timing and occurrence. Antarctic blue and fin whales are recorded across the hydrophone network, mainly from austral autumn to spring, with peak intensity in winter. Pygmy blue whales show spatial variation: Madagascan pygmy blue whales are mainly present in the west of the network, while the Australian call type is heard at the eastern sites. Both populations share a common seasonality, with a presence from January to June. Finally, the Sri Lankan call type is recorded only on a single site in the northeast. These results confirm the importance of the southern Indian Ocean for several populations of endangered large whales and present the first long-term assessment of fin whales in the southern Indian Ocean.
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ArticleDynamic imaging of a capillary-gravity wave in shallow water using amplitude variations of eigenbeams(Acoustical Society of America, 2019-11-15) van Baarsel, Tobias ; Roux, Philippe ; Mars, Jérôme Igor ; Bonnel, Julien ; Arrigoni, Michel ; Kerampran, Steven ; Nicolas, BarbaraDynamic acoustic imaging of a surface wave propagating at an air–water interface is a complex task that is investigated here at the laboratory scale through an ultrasonic experiment in a shallow water waveguide. Using a double beamforming algorithm between two source–receiver arrays, the authors isolate and identify each multi-reverberated eigenbeam that interacts with the air–water and bottom interfaces. The waveguide transfer matrix is recorded 100 times per second while a low-amplitude gravity wave is generated by laser-induced breakdown at the middle of the waveguide, just above the water surface. The controlled, and therefore repeatable, breakdown results in a blast wave that interacts with the air–water interface, which creates ripples at the surface that propagate in both directions. The amplitude perturbations of each ultrasonic eigenbeam are measured during the propagation of the gravity-capillary wave. Inversion of the surface deformation is performed from the amplitude variations of the eigenbeams using a diffraction-based sensitivity kernel approach. The accurate ultrasonic imaging of the displacement of the air–water interface is compared to simultaneous measurements with an optical camera, which provides independent validation.
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ArticleLong-term and seasonal changes of large whale call frequency in the Southern Indian Ocean(American Geophysical Union, 2018-11-27) Leroy, Emmanuelle C. ; Royer, Jean-Yves ; Bonnel, Julien ; Samaran, FloreIn the past decades, in the context of a changing ocean submitted to an increasing human activity, a progressive decrease in the frequencies (pitch) of blue whale vocalizations has been observed worldwide. Its causes, of natural or anthropogenic nature, are still unclear. Based on 7 years of continuous acoustic recordings at widespread sites in the southern Indian Ocean, we show that this observation stands for five populations of large whales. The frequency of selected units of vocalizations of fin, Antarctic, and pygmy blue whales has steadily decreased at a rate of a few tenths of hertz per year since 2002. In addition to this interannual frequency decrease, blue whale vocalizations display seasonal frequency shifts. We show that these intra‐annual shifts correlate with seasonal changes in the ambient noise near their call frequency. This ambient noise level, in turn, shows a strong correlation with the seasonal presence of icebergs, which are one of the main sources of oceanic noise in the Southern Hemisphere. Although cause‐and‐effect relationships are difficult to ascertain, wide‐ranging changes in the acoustic environment seem to have a strong impact on the vocal behavior of large baleen whales. Seasonal frequency shifts may be due to short‐term changes in the ambient noise, and the interannual frequency decline to long‐term changes in the acoustic properties of the ocean and/or in postwhaling changes in whale abundances.
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ArticleGeoacoustic inversion on the New England Mud Patch using warping and dispersion curves of high-order modes(Acoustical Society of America, 2018-05-24) Bonnel, Julien ; Lin, Ying-Tsong ; Eleftherakis, Dimitrios ; Goff, John A. ; Dosso, Stan ; Chapman, Ross ; Miller, James H. ; Potty, Gopu R.This paper presents single receiver geoacoustic inversion of a combustive sound source signal, recorded during the 2017 Seabed Characterization Experiment on the New England Mud Patch, in an area where water depth is around 70 m. There are two important features in this study. First, it is shown that high-order modes can be resolved and estimated using warping (up to mode number 18 over the frequency band 20–440 Hz). However, it is not possible to determine mode numbers from the data, so that classical inversion methods that require mode identification cannot be applied. To solve this issue, an inversion algorithm that jointly estimates geoacoustic properties and identifies mode number is proposed. It is successfully applied on a range-dependent track, and provides a reliable range-average estimation of geoacoustic properties of the mud layer, an important feature of the seabed on the experimental area.
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ArticleGeoacoustic inversion using simple hand-deployable acoustic systems(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, 2022-11-22) Bonnel, Julien ; McNeese, Andrew R. ; Wilson, Preston S. ; Dosso, Stan E.This article proposes the use of a simple, low-cost, hand-deployable pair of experimental assets to conduct geoacoustic inversion at sea. The system consists of an expendable, fully mechanical acoustic source called a rupture induced underwater sound source (RIUSS) and a new ropeless passive acoustic mooring called a TOSSIT (not an acronym). Used together, RIUSS and TOSSIT enable the collection of acoustic data suitable to perform single-hydrophone geoacoustic inversion. The method is illustrated using data collected on the New England Mud Patch in May 2021 from a relatively small (22 m) and inexpensive chartered fishing vessel. Modal time-frequency dispersion from 15 to 385 Hz is extracted from the TOSSIT/RIUSS data using warping, and used as input for Bayesian transdimensional geoacoustic inversion. The inversion results compare favorably to results obtained with data collected on the same track with traditional assets (e.g., a vertical line array) during the 2017 Seabed Characterization Experiment, even when jointly inverting for the water-column sound speed profile and seabed geoacoustic parameters. This further demonstrates inversion repeatability in a given location using data sets collected years apart, and under different (and potentially unknown) oceanographic conditions.
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ArticleTank acoustics substantially distort broadband sounds produced by marine crustaceans(Acoustical Society of America, 2022-12-20) Jézéquel, Youenn ; Bonnel, Julien ; Aoki, Nadège ; Mooney, T. AranMarine crustaceans produce broadband sounds that have been mostly characterized in tanks. While tank physical impacts on such signals are documented in the acoustic community, they are overlooked in the bioacoustic literature with limited empirical comparisons. Here, we compared broadband sounds produced at 1 m from spiny lobsters (Panulirus argus) in both tank and in situ conditions. We found significant differences in all sound features (temporal, power, and spectral) between tank and in situ recordings, highlighting that broadband sounds, such as those produced by marine crustaceans, cannot be accurately characterized in tanks. We then explained the three main physical impacts that distort broadband sounds in tanks, respectively known as resonant frequencies, sound reverberation, and low frequency attenuation. Tank resonant frequencies strongly distort the spectral shape of broadband sounds. In the high frequency band (above the tank minimum resonant frequency), reverberation increases sound duration. In the low frequency band (below the tank minimum resonant frequency), low frequencies are highly attenuated due to their longer wavelength compared to the tank size and tank wall boundary conditions (zero pressure) that prevent them from being accurately measured. Taken together, these results highlight the importance of understanding tank physical impacts when characterizing broadband crustacean sounds.
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ArticleAssessing the impacts of anthropogenic sounds on early stages of benthic invertebrates: the “Larvosonic system”(Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, 2022-12-15) Olivier, Frédéric ; Gigot, Mathilde ; Mathias, Delphine ; Jezequel, Youenn ; Meziane, Tarik ; L'Her, Christophe ; Chauvaud, Laurent ; Bonnel, JulienNoise produced by human activities has increased in the oceans over the last decades. Whereas most studies have focused on the impact of anthropogenic noise on marine mammals and fishes, those focusing on marine invertebrates are rarer and more recent, especially when considering peri‐metamorphic benthic stages, highly sensitive to anthropogenic perturbations. A careful review of the literature reveals a simplistic characterization of the acoustics within the containers used to quantify larval and juvenile responses to noise, thus weakening the conclusions of such works. To address this problem, we developed the Larvosonic system, a laboratory tank equipped with acoustic assets to assess the impacts of noise on young stages of marine invertebrates. We first provide a careful analysis of the tank sound field using different sound types, and we assess the effects of expanded polystyrene units on the sounds emitted by a professional audio system in order to dampen reverberation and resonance. Then, we apply this acoustic calibration to the effects of both pile driving and drilling noises on postlarvae of the scallop bivalve Pecten maximus. Acoustic recordings highlight that diffuser and bass trap components constitute effective underwater sound absorbents, reducing the reflection of the whole frequency bandwidth. Scallop experiments reveal that both type and level of the tested noise influenced postlarval growth, with interactive effects between trophic environment and noise level/spectra. The Larvosonic system thus constitutes an efficient tool for bioacoustics research on bentho‐planktonic invertebrate species.
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ArticleAcoustic scaling in the European spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas)(Acoustical Society of America, 2022-12-05) Jézéquel, Youenn ; Bonnel, Julien ; Eliès, Phillipe ; Chauvaud, LaurentSound is an important cue for arthropods. In insects, sound features and sound-producing apparatus are tightly correlated to enhance signal emission in larger individuals. In contrast, acoustic scaling in marine arthropods is poorly described even if they possess similar sound-producing apparatus. Here, the acoustic scaling of the European spiny lobster is analyzed by recording sounds in situ at 1 m from a wide range of body sizes. The dimensions of associated sound-producing apparatus increased with body size, indicating sound features would also be influenced by spiny lobster size. Indeed, temporal sound features changed with body size, suggesting differences in calling songs could be used for spiny lobster acoustic communication. Source levels (peak–peak) ranged from 131 to 164 dB re 1μPa for smaller and larger lobsters, respectively, which could be explained by more efficient resonating structures in larger animals. In addition, dominant frequencies were highly constrained by ambient noise levels, masking the low-frequency content of low intensity sounds from smaller spiny lobsters. Although the ecological function of spiny lobster sounds is not clear yet, these results suggest larger body sizes benefit because louder calls increase the broadcast area and potential interactions with conspecifics, as shown in the insect bioacoustic literature.