A wide range of anthropogenic activities, along with natural sound sources, contribute
to the ocean background sound levels. Due to an increase in the human population and
revolutions, there was an overall rise of these sound levels. This increase of noise is a
trend that is likely to continue. Killer whales (Orcinus orca), use sound as primary sensory
modality, just like all cetacean species, and can therefore be impacted by such elevated
noise levels. Impacts such as masking and decreased foraging opportunities have been
shown for individuals, but may also affect populations. Here I studied the effects of
elevations in ocean background noise on the acoustic behaviour, specifically the call
characteristics, of killer whales found in the area around Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland.
Analysis of killer whale underwater recordings and measured background noise levels
showed no significant effects of these noise levels on the call characteristics analysed.
Though, some changes are in line with findings of other studies. Therefore, a follow-up
study with a larger data set including higher noise levels is recommended to further
investigate these possible effects.
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