Use of Preoperation Acoustic Modeling Combined with Real-Time Sound Level Monitoring to Mitigate Behavioral Effects of Seismic Surveys.

Underwater acoustic modeling is often used to estimate the injury radius around a seismic exploration source; only occasionally has it been applied to the mitigation of behavioral effects, where the safety boundary may extend to many kilometers. Such a mitigation strategy requires precise estimation of the sound field for many source locations and likely entails field validation over the course of the operation to ensure that mitigation regions are accurate. This article reviews the enactment of such an approach for a seismic survey off Sakhalin Island and examines how similar principles may be applied to other surveys under suitable conditions.