Soundscape of green turtle foraging habitats in Fiji, South Pacific

Abstract

The soundscape features of the marine environment provide crucial information about ecosystem health for many species, and they are defined by the local biological, geophysical, and anthropogenic components. In this study, we investigated the soundscape at green turtle neritic foraging habitats in Fiji, South Pacific, with the aims of characterizing the contribution of each component and of comparing the levels of acoustic pressure among sites with different abundances sea turtles. Four sites were selected at two islands, and one hydrophone was deployed at each site.