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Ecoacoustic Monitoring Of Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser Fulvescens) Spawning And Its Relation To Anthropogenic Noise, Dennis M. Higgs, Riley K. Beach

Integrative Biology Publications

Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) are endangered in the Laurentian Great Lakes with increasing binational efforts to establish spawning grounds to aid restoration. While SCUBA surveys can document spawning activity, these are labour-intensive and may disrupt spawning. We used passive acoustic monitoring to quantify spawning sounds of lake sturgeon as a first step to developing remote sensing of sturgeon spawning grounds. Acipenser sp. are known to make a variety of sounds including, “thunders” (aka drums), which have been documented in A. fulvescens during spawning. We quantified drums from a known spawning bed. We recorded 5 different potential sturgeon sounds but only …