Synthesizing the Effects of Acute Ship Noise Associated with Liquid Natural Gase Terminals on the Blood Chemistry of Selected Marine Teleosts

Understanding the consequences of acute and chronic stressors associated with an increasingly “urban” ocean is vital to the health, management, and conservation of marine organisms and our oceans in general. One of the most prevalent urban stressors in coastal waters is the sound generated by the expanding array of oceanic shipping traffic, such as that associated with offshore energy platforms and Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) terminals. However, the sublethal physiological implications of acute and chronic anthropogenic sound stress have received relatively little attention in marine fishes. To address this, we examined primary and secondary blood biochemical profiles (e.g. plasma cortisol titers, ionic parameters, and select metabolites) in select western North Atlantic marine teleosts immediately following exposure to simulated acute broadband sound signals indicative of LNG tanker noise. None of the species exposed to these stimuli to date - the winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus), Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) or lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus) – have exhibited consistently appreciable physiological alterations when compared to study cohorts exposed to no sound. While these results may infer a lack of sensitivity to acute acoustic stress exposure in these species, they may also reflect captive conditioning and an inhibition of the acute stress response due to chronic stress exposure. Ongoing studies evaluating the responses to acute sound stress in Atlantic wolfish (Anarhichas lupus) are also underway. These studies are important initial determinants of the generalized interspecific acoustic stress response in marine teleosts, and help validate whether the captive setting is a suitable venue to carry out such investigations.