Assessment of potential for masking in marine mammals of the Antarctic exposed to underwater sound from airguns

Functional marine mammal acoustic communication evolved under natural ambient noise levels, which makes communication vulnerable to anthropogenic noise sources. In this report, we consider the potential long-range effects of airgun noise on marine mammal communication range. During the propagation process, airgun impulses are reflected multiple times from the sea surface, refracted in sound channels and reverberated, leading to signal stretching that may result in a continuous received sound.