Highlights of the Joint Industry Program on Sound and Marine Life

This talk summarizes seven years of research results by the Joint Industry Program on Sound and Marine Life (JIP). The results are intended to provide scientific facts for risk assessment of, and regulations for offshore E & P operations. Topics to be covered include: 1. Companies participating in this JIP, 2. Acoustic output to 25 kHz of a full airgun array, single guns, and typical gun clusters; 3. Improving existing propagation models for arrays (Gundalf, Nucleus) using new acoustic output data, 4. Hearing abilities of species considered most susceptible to airguns (minke whale, marine turtles), 5. Effects of airgun shots on animal hearing (dolphins, arctic seals), 6. Modeling the effects of airgun shots on tissue damage in fish, 7. Effects of airguns on animal behaviour (naďve and experienced humpback whales), 8. Marine mammal monitoring (PAMGuard to aid observers, calculating population density from recorded animal calls), 9. Mitigation (efficacy of ramp-up/soft-start, an active source for safe startup under low visibility conditions), and 10. A possible alternative to airguns (comparing the possible effects on animals of airguns and marine vibrators). The JIP seeks other partner companies to expand this important program.