Underwater Noise Measured at Fourteen 



Oil Platforms Off Santa Barbara, California 



R. S. Gales 



INTRODUCTION 



This report is a brief summary of data from a series of measurements 

 of underwater noise in the vicinity of fourteen oil and gas olatforms 

 engaged in offshore drilling and/or oil and gas production in the general 

 area of Santa Barbara, California. This is an interim summary report on 

 the field-data recording portions of the Bureau of Land Management Task: 

 "Study of the Effects of Sound on Marine Mammals." This work was conducted 

 under Naval Ocean Systems Center Project MM28, BLM Project AA851-1A0-5. 



The scheduling of the measurement activity during Janury 1981 was 

 selected specifically to coincide with the southward migration of the gray 

 whales through the Santa Barbara offshore waters. During the time of the 

 noise measurements, extensive observations were being made on the specific 

 migration routes of the whales between Point Conception and Santa Barbara. 

 These observations were being conducted by the Santa Barbara Museum of 

 Natural History under contract in connection with BLM-sponsored studies of 

 effects of oil concentration on animal behavior. It was hypothesized that 

 oil seeps known to exist in the Santa Barbara area might influence the 

 migratory behavior of the whales. Similarily, the possibility that noise 

 from the extensive offshore drilling and production might also affect the 

 whales made it important to gather noise data in the same general area. 

 The noise data have not yet at this writing been related to the migratory 

 behavior in any detailed fashion. 



F-2 



