A new study has used artificial intelligence (AI) technology to prove for the first time that ship noise affects dolphins.

Maritime traffic has a very strong impact on the environment and public health in general and on the marine environment in particular, and is a factor that motivates the migration of species from one marine environment to another. Until now, it was not known whether dolphins were affected by ship noise; the evidence in this regard was mainly anecdotal and visual. The main difficulty is to systematically determine the behavior of dolphins encountering ship noise.

“Although it seems obvious, until now there was no empirical evidence that dolphins are affected by ship noise. Using AI, we were able to show that dolphins communicate in a unique way when ship noise is nearby. The influence of ship noise on communication between dolphins can cause them to move away from noise sources, which in some cases are their feeding grounds,” explains Prof. Roee Diamant and Dr. Aviad Scheinin, two of the authors of the study.

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The current study, supported by the Data Science center at the University of Haifa, was conducted in collaboration between the Underwater Acoustic and Navigation Laboratory (ANL), headed by Prof. Diamant, and the Marine Apex predator laboratory, headed by Dr. Scheinin. The researchers combined acoustic studies of dolphin whistles (the form of communication used by the mammals) with AI software that searched for patterns in the cries.

As mentioned earlier, one of the main problems with studies of this type is observing the dolphins’ behavior, firstly when there is no ship noise and secondly when there is. This is the only way to determine whether the same dolphin behaves differently in each case.

For this purpose, the researchers chose a location close to the dolphin reef in Eilat, where Common bottlenose (Tursiops truncatus) dolphins are regularly found. Recording devices placed at a depth of 50 meters continuously recorded the sounds of nearby dolphins and shipping noise.

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From all the recorded sounds, the researchers filtered out 12,000 dolphin whistles and were able to assign them to the dolphins that were at that location. The algorithm developed by the researchers identified around 60,000 dolphin whistles when a ship was nearby, and the same number of whistles where identified when no ships were present.

According to Prof. Diamant, not visual inspection of the signals nor direct feature extraction were able to distinguish between the two groups of whistles – with and without presence of a ship. Instead, this was analyzed by a deep learning algorithm.

This algorithm was trained over 20% of the whistle database and tested on the remaining whistles. The result was a 90% success rate in classifying between the two sets. In other words, the AI was able to recognize a certain pattern in the whistles of the dolphins exposed to shipping noise, well above the chance level. The researchers concluded from this result that a clear impact on the dolphins occurs when vessels were around.

“The problem with deep learning is that it’s a kind of a ‘black box’ and it’s hard to associate the classification result to a physical meaning within the signal. We still don’t know what unique pattern the AI system has recognized, but we know that it is related to the type of communication they make, and previous studies have already shown that changes in vocal behavior can be the result of stress and distress. In other words, dolphins communicate in a different way and change their vocal behavior when they encounter ship noise. In our upcoming studies, we will try to understand the nature of the effects,” the researchers conclude.

The research was conducted at the Charney School of Marine Sciences at the University of Haifa was published in the Nature Group journal Scientific Reports

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Located on the natural island of Saadiyat, Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas sits adjacent to Saadiyat Beach, a nine kilometre stretch of environmentally-protected white sand beach on the edge of the turquoise Arabian Sea. The area is home to an abundance of wildlife including hawksbill turtles and bottlenose dolphins (like the ones found in an Egyptian private pool).

Marine biologist Arabella Willing joined the team from a sister hotel in the Maldives. Previously, she was a volunteer teacher on a remote island in the very north of the country, educating some of the most isolated communities about sustainability, marine life and the effects of coral bleaching.

“Abu Dhabi has amazing wildlife, which many people are not even aware of. Now is the time to engage our guests and employees on how we can be more responsible towards our environment, to make sure that the endangered species that visit our island remain protected. We conduct various educational programs with our employees through our corporate responsibility platform ‘Hyatt Thrive’. We also entertain the children and teenagers in the resort with activities relating to nature and the sea,” Willing stated on the company website.

The marine biologist arrived just in time for the nesting season of one of the most endangered species in the world, the hawksbill turtle (the first of the season’s nests was spotted in April).  Nests can contain between 90 and 100 eggs, each nest clearly marked to ensure hotel guests don’t disturb hatching that occurs about 10 weeks after eggs are laid. Every year between April and August, the turtles return to the island to nest, often having travelled half-way around the globe.

The resort is adjacent to the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club Abu Dhabi which itself doubles as a wildlife sanctuary. The golf club was awarded certification from Audubon International in recognition of its efforts to preserve and encourage wildlife on the course and surrounding areas, bringing the club one-step closer to becoming a fully certified Audubon International golf course.

The course hosts many rare bird species, such as Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush species, which are closely monitored by the club’s agronomy team. Over 50 different bird species have been identified on the course, including the Siberian Stonechat, European Bee Eater, Yellow Wagtail, Woodchat Shrike and European Roller.

Director of Agronomy Director Marcus Hartup said on the club website, “Since opening in 2010, Saadiyat Beach Golf Club has made a significant investment in protecting the magnificent wildlife which is native to the area.  Over the past two years we have seen an increase in migrating birds as well as a noted increase in gazelle activity.”

“The influx of birds to Saadiyat Island has been great to witness.  Each morning we venture out to the course never knowing what we’ll find that day.  Birds particularly love the area and we regularly conduct wildlife inventories to monitor which breeds are visiting the course.  Salt water lakes on hole five also provide homes to an abundance of marine life, including fish, jellyfish, mussels and crustaceans.”

World-class facilities designed in full harmony with their natural environment, with dedicated scientists to monitor things are a remarkable step up from chocolates on the pillow.

Reached by a bridge from the mainland, Al Saadiyat Island is another one of Abu Dhabi’s pilot sustainability projects that has drawn a lot of attention to climate and resource issues; so much so that one student designed a site-specific eco-mosque (with no dome or minaret) for the island, which received mixed responses.

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