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. 2016 Feb 2;4:e1657. doi: 10.7717/peerj.1657

Table 2. Ship population statistics and mean broadband sound pressure levels (20–40,000 Hz).

Though abbreviated in the table as dB, the units of the received signal levels (RLS) are dB re 1 µPa and source levels have units of dB re 1 µPa @ 1 m. Variability is reported as a standard deviation of the mean, and speed over ground (SOG) is provided in m/s and knots.

Ship class Isolated transits % of total Unique ships RLS dB SL dB SOG m/s SOG knots
All classes combined 2,809 1,582 110 ± 7 173 ± 7 7.3 ± 2.0 14.1 ± 3.9
Bulk carrier 965 34.3 734 111 ± 6 173 ± 5 7.0 ± 0.8 13.7 ± 1.5
Container 529 18.8 207 116 ± 4 178 ± 4 9.9 ± 1.0 19.2 ± 1.9
Tug 337 12.0 85 108 ± 5 170 ± 5 4.2 ± 1.2 8.2 ± 2.3
Cargo 307 10.9 206 113 ± 5 175 ± 5 7.4 ± 1.2 14.4 ± 2.3
Vehicle carrier 187 6.6 111 113 ± 3 176 ± 3 8.7 ± 1.0 16.9 ± 1.8
Tanker 148 5.3 101 111 ± 5 174 ± 4 7.1 ± 0.7 13.8 ± 1.4
Military 113 4.0 19 99 ± 10 161 ± 10 5.7 ± 1.6 11.1 ± 3.1
Fishing 65 2.3 28 102 ± 9 164 ± 9 4.7 ± 1.1 9.1 ± 2.2
Passenger 49 1.7 31 104 ± 8 166 ± 8 7.4 ± 2.3 14.4 ± 4.5
Miscellaneous 41 1.4 21 101 ± 9 163 ± 9 5.8 ± 3.0 11.2 ± 5.8
Pleasure craft 41 1.5 35 97 ± 10 159 ± 9 6.4 ± 2.5 12.4 ± 4.9
Research 14 0.5 4 104 ± 6 167 ± 5 5.7 ± 0.9 11.1 ± 1.8