An update to real-time observations of the impact of COVID-19 on underwater sound

A slowdown in global trade activity due to COVID-19 has led to a reduction in commercial shipping traffic into the Port of Vancouver. The Ocean Networks Canada observatory system provides researchers real-time access to oceanographic data from a wide range of instruments including hydrophones located along the offshore and inshore approaches to Vancouver. Power spectral density statistics at 100 Hz from four of these bottom mounted hydrophones were monitored, along with AIS data and shipping and trade statistics to assess to what extent the economic impact of COVID-19 can be observed acoustically and in near real-time. The quarterly trend in median weekly noise power in the shipping band of frequencies provides an early indicator that a reduction in noise commensurate with the economic slowdown occurred at two hydrophone stations. Time series of the median and 1st percentile weekly power provide a retrospective detail of the impact of the pandemic on underwater sound.