Piling underwater noise impact on migrating salmon fish during Lithuanian LNG terminal construction (Curonian Lagoon, Eastern Baltic Sea Coast)

•We measured underwater noise produced by impact pile hammering in the Klaipėda Strait.•We modeled underwater noise propagation loss.•We determined potential risks for migrating fish caused by piling activity.

Development of human activities in the Klaipėda strait generates a wide spectrum of underwater noise. In the fall of 2013, at the liquid natural gas terminal construction site in the shallow Curonian Lagoon area, an assessment of possible negative impacts on migrating salmon fish caused by pile driving noise was made. It is well known that impact hammer pile driving generates pulses with extremely high underwater noise levels. The obtained results proved that the pile hammering into the lagoon bottom generated pulses with a sound exposure level of 218 dB re 1 μPa2 s @1 m thus posing a risk to the migrating fish.

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