Impactos acústicos a sísmica e da exploração de petróleo em mamíferos marinhos: uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Seismic surveys are used in one of the stages of oil exploration, however, they are a source of anthropogenic noise that needs to be better studied in order to mitigate their impacts on marine life. Because they use vocalizations and auditory aspects in a large part of their essential behaviors, marine mammals, in particular cetaceans, are organisms especially vulnerable to this impact. Therefore, in this work we carried out a systematic review of the literature, using the Web of Science and Scopus databases, on the impacts of seismic and oil exploration on marine mammals. Firstly, the search resulted in 448 articles which, after screening and selection by inclusion and exclusion criteria, totaled 59 articles included in this work. The years with the most publications were 2016 and 2020 and the most recurring region was Russia. Around 78% of the studies analyzed are about cetaceans and the most studied species was Eschrichtius robustus, known as the gray whale. The most described type of seismic survey was three-dimensional (3D), with acoustic and visual monitoring being the most described. Among the impacts found, behavioral aspects stand out, in which most studies demonstrate some change or reduction in essential activities. In general, the studies included in this review make it clear that seismic surveys have the potential to impact various aspects of these organisms, varying according to the group or species evaluated.