PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Harbour porpoises attracted to oil platforms when searching for food

A large gathering of fish tempts harbor porpoises to search for food around oil and gas platforms, even though the noise from these industrial plants normally to scare the whales away; decommissioned platforms may therefore serve as artificial reefs

Harbour porpoises attracted to oil platforms when searching for food
2021-03-18
(Press-News.org) A large gathering of fish tempts harbour porpoises to search for food around oil and gas platforms, even though the noise from these industrial plants normally to scare the whales away. Decommissioned platforms may therefore serve as artificial reefs in the North Sea.

Harbour porpoises are one of the smallest of all whales and the only whale that with certainty breeds in Danish waters. The harbour porpoise was protected in 1967 in Danish Waters, and researchers from Aarhus University, Denmark, have previously shown that underwater noise from ships, and seismic surveys of the seabed scare the porpoises away.

A brand new study now shows that in some parts of the year there are actually more porpoises searching for food around the largest Danish oil platform, Dan F, in the North Sea than just three to ten kilometres away from the platform.

21 listening stations in the North Sea

A team of researchers deployed 21 listening stations at the bottom of the North Sea. The innermost listening station was deployed immediately under the very large Dan F-oil and gas platform, while the outermost station was located 25.6 km away from the platform. One of the many listening stations was placed halfway between the inner- and outermost stations near the old oil well, Ragnar, which no longer produces oil.

The listening stations were left in the North Sea for two years to record all sounds below the surface of the sea, including the noise from ships and platforms, but also the sounds produced by porpoises for orientation and the so-called "buzz sounds" telling the researchers that the whales are actively hunting for food.

"With this study, we're presenting the first investigation of the presence and feeding activity of porpoises throughout the year around oil platforms, as far as we know," says senior researcher Jonas Teilmann from the Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Denmark, who headed the investigations.

The new discoveries have just been published in the British journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence, and the results from the many data surprised the researchers.

Food attracts more than noise scares

"During the six months from July to January, we heard more porpoises searching for food around the two installations, the Dan-F platform and the Ragnar well, than we did in control areas located 6 and 25 kilometres away from Dan-F. This was even as high as the highest porpoise activity we have seen for Natura 2000 sites in the inner Danish waters," says Jonas Teilmann.

According to the researchers, the installations act as natural reefs where porpoises are provided with favourable living conditions as numerous species of plants and animals settle on the structures and provide hiding places and more food to the fish. Moreover, fishing is prohibited within a radius of 500 metres from the platforms why the seabed is undisturbed from trawling.

At the Dan-F platform, the researchers heard extensive activity by porpoises when searching for food up to 800 metres from the platform. In fact, the researches know that there were up to twice as many porpoises just below the platforms than recorded by the acoustic recorders as the noise from the platform will often drown the sounds made by the porpoises. Not until a distance of 12 kilometres from the platform, the noise disappeared.

The researchers cannot answer the question of whether the porpoises slowly get used to the noise from the drilling platforms, but it is clear that the motivation for finding food is greater than the deterrence effect of the noise.

"Our data show that the porpoises ignored the annoyance of the underwater noise to exploit the greater availability of food around the fixed installations," says Jonas Teilmann.

Should artificial installations be left in place?

Especially during the period from July to January, it is important for the porpoises to consume as much food as possible in order to build up a solid layer of blubber that can bring the animals through the cold winter. It is also during these six months that the mothers need energy so they have sufficient milk for their calves.

In contrast, the researchers found that there are far fewer porpoises searching for food around the artificial installations in the period from February to June.

"The signals from porpoises were far less frequent during this particular period, but the buzz sounds revealed that the porpoises still searched for fish around the Dan-F platform and the Ragnar well from February to June. The noise from the platform is the same all year round, so we interpret the absence of porpoises as a change in the behaviour or the presence of fish," says Jonas Teilmann.

The researchers recorded sounds from porpoises around the clock and could therefore hear that the whales were more actively searching for food at night than during the day, as far as 800 metres from the Dan-F platform.

This came as a surprise to the researchers, but they know that light lures zooplankton, squids and fish up into the upper water column at night. This initiates an efficient food chain that ends with the porpoises. This could explain why the Dan-F platform was especially attractive at night, while the day activity was higher at Regnar, where no light was present.

The OSPAR Convention, which protects the North Sea, requires that all decommissioned oil and gas installations are removed from the North Sea. However, the researchers are now pointing out that the old installations may be left to serve as new artificial reefs in the North Sea, the so-called "Rigs-to Reef" concept. Platforms and other installations can increase the diversity and biodiversity in areas that have been destroyed by trawling or where the original stone reefs have been removed and used for construction projects on land.

INFORMATION:

The studies were financed by Total E&P Danmark A/S.

Further information: Senior Researcher Jonas Teilmann, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Denmark; mail: jte@bios.au.dk; phone: +45 2142 4291.

By Peter Bondo


[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Harbour porpoises attracted to oil platforms when searching for food

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Women in cities less likely to have children

2021-03-18
A new study in Behavioral Ecology, published by Oxford University Press, finds that women are less likely to procreate in urban areas that have a higher percentage of females than males in the population. Although the majority modern cities have more women than men and thus suffer from lower fertility rates, the effects of female-biased sex ratios - having more women than men in a population - is less studied than male-biased ratios. Researchers here analyzed how female-biased sex ratios are linked to marriages, reproductive histories, dispersal, and the effects of urbanization on society. The research team from University of Turku, University of Helsinki and Pennsylvania ...

UNIST to develop new electrolyte additives for high-energy-density LIBs

UNIST to develop new electrolyte additives for high-energy-density LIBs
2021-03-18
A joint research team, affiliated with UNIST has unveiled a novel electrolyte additive that could enable a long lifespan and fast chargeability of high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Published in the February 2021 issue of Nature Communications, this research has been carried out by Professor Nam-Soon Choi and Professor Sang Kyu Kwak in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, in collaboration with Professor Sung You Hong in the Department of Chemistry at UNIST. It has also been participated by Professor Jaephil Cho in the School of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST. As the demand for large-capacity batteries (i.e., EV batteries) increases, efforts are actively underway to replace the conventional lithium-ion ...

Four lichen species new to science discovered in Kenyan cloud forests

2021-03-18
Researchers from the University of Helsinki's Finnish Museum of Natural History Luomus and the National Museums of Kenya have discovered four lichen species new to science in the rainforests of the Taita Hills in southeast Kenya. Micarea pumila, M. stellaris, M. taitensis and M. versicolor are small lichens that grow on bark of trees and on decaying wood. The species were described based on morphological features and DNA-characters. "Species that belong to the Micarea genus are known all over the world, including Finland. However, the Micarea species recently described from the Taita ...

How to get customers to talk about you

2021-03-18
Researchers from Arizona State University, New York University, and Northwestern University published a new paper in the Journal of Marketing that examines how marketers can fuel positive WOM without using explicit incentives. The study, forthcoming in the Journal of Marketing, is titled "How Marketing Perks Influence Word of Mouth" and is authored by Monika Lisjak, Andrea Bonezzi, and Derek Rucker. Word-of-mouth (WOM) is arguably the most influential means of persuasion and can be a critical driver of a company's growth. For this reason, many companies offer consumers incentives to encourage them to generate WOM. Classic examples of this practice are referral and seeding programs, whereby a company literally "pays" ...

Size matters when it comes to atomic properties

Size matters when it comes to atomic properties
2021-03-18
A study from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, has yielded new answers to fundamental questions about the relationship between the size of an atom and its other properties, such as electronegativity and energy. The results pave the way for advances in future material development. For the first time, it is now possible under certain conditions to devise exact equations for such relationships. "Knowledge of the size of atoms and their properties is vital for explaining chemical reactivity, structure and the properties of molecules and materials of all kinds. This is fundamental research that is necessary for us to make important advances," explains Martin Rahm, the main author of the study and research leader from ...

UTSA researcher studies key predictors for college retention

2021-03-18
(MARCH 17, 2021) - The current outbreak of COVID-19 has raised many questions about the value of consideration of standardized testing through the admissions process. One of the many Coronavirus cancellations included a growing number of universities to waive SAT and ACT scores as an admissions requirement for 2022 applicants. With schools shifting their policy to making standardized "test-optional" and possibly permanently phasing out testing scores in the future as some college experts argue that standardized tests create barriers to students which could reduce their likelihood of acceptance. A new study led by senior research scientist Paul Westrick from the College Board (ACT, Inc.), along with UTSA professor of management, ...

TU Graz researchers identify chemical processes as key to understanding landslides

TU Graz researchers identify chemical processes as key to understanding landslides
2021-03-18
Mass movements such as landslides and hill-slope debris flows cause billions of euros in economic damage around the world every year. Between 20 and 80 million euros are spent annually from the disaster fund to repair disaster damage in Austria, 15 to 50 percent of which is attributable to mud flows and landslides. Now, a team of geologists from Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), in cooperation with the Burgenland state road administration, identified for the first time the chemical influencing factors and triggers for recurrent mass movements in fine-grained sediments. From results published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, preventive measures and strategies ...

2021 INS Standards highlight anti-reflux technology for needleless connectors

2021-03-18
Lenexa, Kan. -- The Infusion Nurses Society has expanded its guidance on the use of needleless connectors to include anti-reflux technology in its recently published 2021 Infusion Therapy Standards of Practice, according to Nexus Medical, makers of the Nexus TKO®-6P Anti-Reflux connector. As INS' most recognized publication, the updated Standards outline specific categories of needleless connector technology based on the device's internal mechanism for fluid displacement -- negative displacement, positive displacement, neutral and anti-reflux. Of all the categories, the authors note that anti-reflux needleless connectors cause the least amount of blood reflux, which can ...

Lab-created heart valves can grow with the recipient

2021-03-17
A groundbreaking new study led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers from both the College of Science and Engineering and the Medical School shows for the first time that lab-created heart valves implanted in young lambs for a year were capable of growth within the recipient. The valves also showed reduced calcification and improved blood flow function compared to animal-derived valves currently used when tested in the same growing lamb model. If confirmed in humans, these new heart valves could prevent the need for repeated valve replacement surgeries in thousands of children born each year with congenital heart defects. The valves can also be stored for at least six months, which means they could provide surgeons with an "off the shelf" option for treatment. The ...

A new, vital player in graft-versus-host disease and organ transplant rejection

2021-03-17
A long noncoding RNA whose function was previously unknown turns out to play a vital role in mobilizing the immune response following a bone marrow transplant or solid organ transplantation. This RNA molecule, cataloged in scientific databases simply as Linc00402, helps activate immune defenders known as T cells in response to the presence of foreign human cells, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center and Michigan Medicine. The investigation, which included samples from more than 50 patients who underwent a bone marrow or heart transplant, suggests inhibiting ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Signs identified that precede sudden arrhythmic death syndrome in young people

Discovery of bacteria's defence against viruses becomes a piece of the puzzle against resistance

Pre-eclampsia is associated with earlier onset and higher incidence of cardiovascular risk factors

Warwick astronomers discover doomed pair of spiralling stars on our cosmic doorstep

Soil conditions significantly increase rainfall in world’s megastorm hotspots

NK cells complexed with bispecific antibody yield high response rates in patients with lymphoma

Planetary health diet and mediterranean diet associated with similar survival and sustainability benefits

Singapore launches national standard to validate antimicrobial disinfectant products

Molecular stool test could improve detection of tuberculosis in adults with HIV

Suspected fibrocartilaginous embolus in Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus)

Enhancing heat transfer using the turbulent flow of viscoelastic fluids

Exercise as an anti-ageing intervention to avoid detrimental impact of mental fatigue

UMass Amherst Nursing Professor Emerita honored as ‘Living Legend’

New guidelines aim to improve cystic fibrosis screening

Picky eaters by day, buffet by night: Butterfly, moth diets sync to plant aromas

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Leanne Redman honored with the E. V. McCollum Award from the American Society for Nutrition

CCNY physicists uncover electronic interactions mediated via spin waves

Researchers’ 3D-printing formula may transform future of foam

Nurture more important than nature for robotic hand

Drug-delivering aptamers target leukemia stem cells for one-two knockout punch

New study finds that over 95% of sponsored influencer posts on Twitter were not disclosed

New sea grant report helps great lakes fish farmers navigate aquaculture regulations

Strain “trick” improves perovskite solar cells’ efficiency

How GPS helps older drivers stay on the roads

Estrogen and progesterone stimulate the body to make opioids

Dancing with the cells – how acoustically levitating a diamond led to a breakthrough in biotech automation

Machine learning helps construct an evolutionary timeline of bacteria

Cellular regulator of mRNA vaccine revealed... offering new therapeutic options

Animal behavioral diversity at risk in the face of declining biodiversity

Finding their way: GPS ignites independence in older adult drivers

[Press-News.org] Harbour porpoises attracted to oil platforms when searching for food
A large gathering of fish tempts harbor porpoises to search for food around oil and gas platforms, even though the noise from these industrial plants normally to scare the whales away; decommissioned platforms may therefore serve as artificial reefs