Academic of the Institute of Acoustics is part of the research group that awarded the ANID Exploration 2022 project

Dr. Alfio Yori, academic at the Institute of Acoustics from the Austral University of Chile integrates a team of researchers that awarded funds from the ANID 2022 Exploration Project Contest, whose objective is to contribute to the development and consolidation of disruptive, innovative scientific-technological research, with high uncertainty and with a high transformative potential, through the financing of excellent research projects in all areas of knowledge that can lead to new knowledge or applications.

The initiative, which is part of the area of ​​natural and life sciences, is entitled “Underwater noise: experimental approaches for determining effects on marine life” and is led by researchers from the U. de Concepción -Dra. Susannah Buchan (COPAS COASTAL / CEAZA)- and from the U. Católica de la Santísima Concepción -Dr. Iván Hinojosa, (COASTAL CUPS)-.

The team of co-investigators It is made up of Dr. Carlos Olavarría (CEAZA), Dr. Maritza Sepúlveda (UV), Dr. Francisco Viddi (UACh) and Dr. Alfio Yori (UACh).

To this day, it is not clear how underwater noise affects different marine species. There are very few affectation criteria and only for certain marine species. One of these criteria is that of the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) from the United States, where all marine mammals are grouped into five groups, assigning each of the members of these groups equal auditory characteristics and, therefore, auditory physiological effects.

Dr. Yori points out that the main objective of this project is to develop the necessary methodologies to evaluate the response that underwater noise provokes in marine animals. The study considers evaluating both the physiological and behavioral response in invertebrates and marine mammals, which will be done through laboratory and field work.

“The conclusions reached with this investigation will allow the environmental authorities to make more informed decisions about the protection and conservation of our marine fauna, and especially in the protection of whales and dolphins that live and reach the waters of our country. ”, explains the academic.

In relation to the contribution of acoustic engineering to this interdisciplinary research, Alfio Yori details that devices will be used both to emit and receive acoustic signals, which allow the determination of sound levels or thresholds from which the evaluated species present a response.

“To achieve this, we must implement arrangements of hydrophones and sound sources that allow us to measure the levels of underwater noise to which the evaluated species are exposed. I will personally participate in the calibration, arrangement design and installation of the equipment to be used, as well as the measurements both in the laboratory and in the field. Subsequently, I will participate in the acoustic analysis of the results obtained, obtaining the necessary acoustic descriptors”, he affirms.

Given the recent award, the team of researchers has not yet defined the areas in which the field measurements will be carried out, which will be determined soon based on the existing cetacean observation statistics, among other criteria.