The soundscape of the southern Gulf of Mexico (Veracruz and Campeche)

Abstract

The southern part of the Gulf of Mexico is a large area where little is known about its soundscape. We measured the environmental noise in Laguna de Términos, Campeche, México from 2004 to 2008 in stations distributed homogeneously in this lagoon during 17 sampling periods using a digital audio tape recorder sampling at 48 kHz with 16 bits for 1 min at each station. We also measured the environmental noise off Alvarado, Veracruz, México in June 2023 using a digital audio tape recorder sampling at 96 kHz with 24 bits for 50 min at four stations. The environmental noise in the recordings was measured with a semi-automatic MATLAB routine designed for this purpose. We will present preliminary results on the environmental noise in these two coastal locations using snapping shrimp sounds as a measure to depict differences in time and space within and between locations. Changes in submarine environmental noise are helping us in understanding the effects of natural phenomena and antropogenic sounds in the distribution and abundance of marine wildlife, such as snapping shrimps and bottlenose dolphins. [Work supported by CONACyT-Campeche, PAPIIT&PASPA-UNAM, SMM, and UV.]