Assessment of Vessel Noise within the Southern Resident Killer Whale Interim Sanctuary Zones
August 2021 — British Columbia, Canada
Client: Transport Canada Innovation Centre
A modelling study to quantify monthly average vessel noise (Jun–Oct 2019) both with and without the implementation of Interim Sanctuary Zones around Saturna and Pender Islands to estimate their effectiveness in reducing vessel noise levels in Southern Resident killer whale foraging areas. Results from JASCO’s cumulative noise model show that the mitigation approach would result in a decrease of unweighted noise levels by, on average, 0.5 (±0.4) dB within the Saturna Island Interim Sanctuary Zone and 3.0 (±1.0) dB within the Pender Island Interim Sanctuary Zone.
