Effects of absorptivity due to fish on transmission loss in shallow water

Absorption losses at the resonance frequencies of sardines, 1.3 kHz (18 dB) at night, 1.7 kHz (15 dB) during the day and 2.7 kHz (35 dB) at dawn, were observed at a range of 12 km at a shallow wafer site in the Gulf of Lion in September of 1995. These observations were made during Modal Lion, a multidisciplinary experiment, which was designed to isolate absorptivity due to fish from other effects on long range propagation. Systematic changes in the resonance frequency of dispersed sardines were consistent with concurrent echo sounder observations of the vertical migration of sardines at twilight. Comparison of transmission loss measurements with a numerical sound propagation model that incorporates absorption layers in the water column permitted estimation of the average absorption coefficient, depth and thickness of absorption layers. Depths and thickness of layers estimated from sound propagation measurements were in good agreement with echo sounder data. Measured resonance frequencies, f(0), of dispersed fish were in good agreement with theoretical computations based on measured swim bladder dimensions. The measured resonance frequency of sardines in schools, which were at a depth of about 65 m, was about 0.6 times the resonance frequency of dispersed sardines. The observed frequency shift is consistent with an analytical equation of the fundamental resonance frequency of a "cloud" of bubbles, an average separation between fish in schools of about 0.8 fish lengths and 5 x 10(3) fish per school. These estimates are consistent with previously published estimates of these parameters. The resonance frequencies of other absorption lines are consistent with the hypothesis that absorptivity due to sardines generally manifests itself in pairs of absorption lines, which correspond to the resonance frequencies of an ensemble of individual sardines, and the resonance frequencies of an ensemble of schools. Matching of theoretical calculations with inferences of the absorption coefficient permitted estimation of the average number of dispersed sardines per unit volume, which also consistent with previously published estimates. The results presented here suggest the possibility of long term tomographic mapping of fish parameters over large areas using broadband transmission loss measurements. (C) 1999 Acoustical Society of America. [S0001-4966(99)04703-7].