THE EUROPEAN PROJECT 'DEUTERONOISE' - CHARACTERIZATION OF MARITIME NOISE IN DIFFERENT EUROPEAN BASINS AND ITS IMPACT ON ECOLOGICAL RELEVANT DEUTEROSTOME INVERTEBRATES

DeuteroNoise is an European project founded by JPI Oceans intergovernmental platform. The project aims to characterize the noise pollution caused by maritime traffic in selected sites of the North Adriatic Sea, Lagoon of Venice, North Sea, Black Sea, and Barcelona shore, and to investigate its impact on behavior, nervous system and sensory organs, immune system, and resilience in marine invertebrates deuterostomes. These animals are closely related to vertebrates and can be easier studied in laboratory and on-site. A behavioral, morphological and genetic survey will be conducted on sampled animals living in polluted vs non-polluted areas. Moreover, animals will be exposed to noise in laboratory-controlled conditions. The noise level will be measured on-site and simulated in the laboratory using experimental layouts specifically designed for the project. In this work, these layouts will be described (equipment used and protocols) and the results of the first measurements will be reported. Comparative studies will allow us also to highlight levels and characteristics of noise pollution in the different basins, to predict noise pollution and to infer the best practices to reach the Good Environment Status of European basins.