Department of the Navy: This is an image of the United States Department of the Navy logo

 

U.S. Marine Corps: This is an image of the United States Marine Corps logo.

U.S. Coast Guard: This is an image of the United States Coast Guard logo.

Department of the Army: This is an image of the United States Department of the Army logo.

Department of the Air Force: This is an image of the United States Department of the Air Force logo.

 

 
 

 

Audio Transcript

The military services assessed the potential effects of readiness activities on the marine environment using the most current data and analysis methods. The analysis indicates that 99.89 percent of effects on marine mammals would be behavioral reactions and temporary hearing effects.

A behavioral response is a disruption of natural behavior patterns, such as migration, surfacing, nursing, breeding, feeding, or sheltering.

Estimated Marine Mammal Effects

This is a figure conceptually illustrating the different behavioral responses a marine species may have to military readiness activities. Approximately 99.89 percent of all estimated takes resulting from military readiness activities would be Level B harassment, consisting of behavioral reactions and temporary reduced hearing sensitivity. Behavioral reactions may include lifting head or acknowledging sound, changing vocalization, a temporary shift in hearing sensitivity, changing swim direction, or avoidance. Approximately 0.11 percent of all estimated takes would be auditory injury, which is Level A harassment. Per the acoustic effects modeling, non-auditory injury would be 0.0032 percent and mortality would be 0.0005 percent of all takes.

 

The analysis indicates proposed activities may affect certain marine mammal species but are not expected to decrease the overall health or survival of any population.

Most of the predicted effects are non-injurious, such as behavioral responses.