Estimating the audibility of industrial noise to denning polar bears

Abstract

Oil and gas activities on Alaska's North Slope overlap spatially with polar bear (Ursus maritimus) maternal denning habitat and temporally with the peri‐partum and emergence periods.... Our findings indicate that although polar bear snow dens effectively attenuate acoustic sound pressure levels, noise from some industrial support vehicles was likely to be detected farther from dens than previously documented. These results reinforce the importance of maintaining buffer zones....