About the Authors

Enrico Pirotta

Affiliations SMRU Ltd, New Technology Center, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom, Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom

Rachael Milor

Affiliation School of Marine Science and Technology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Nicola Quick

Affiliations SMRU Ltd, New Technology Center, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom, School of Biology, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom

David Moretti

Affiliation Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, Rhode Island, United States of America

Nancy Di Marzio

Affiliation Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport, Rhode Island, United States of America

Peter Tyack

Affiliation Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, United States of America

Ian Boyd

Affiliation Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, United Kingdom

Gordon Hastie

gdh@smru.co.uk

Affiliations SMRU Ltd, New Technology Center, North Haugh, St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom, School of Biology, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

While the sponsors of this study come from an international mix of sound producers and a United States regulatory agency, the majority of funding for the research reported here comes from different divisions of the U.S. Navy, and all of the authors have had at least some of the research reported here partially funded by different divisions of the U.S. Navy. The following authors are employed by the U.S. Navy: David Moretti and Nancy DiMarzio. Their primary involvement was in designing, installing, and helping to operate the passive acoustic marine mammal monitoring system at the AUTEC range; providing the sound sources used in the experiments; and with analyzing and writing up the data. The following authors are employed by a commercial marine mammal consultancy (SMRU Ltd): Enrico Pirotta, Gordon Hastie and Nicola Quick. The following authors have been asked by the U.S. Department of Justice to act as expert witnesses in cases involving the effects of naval sonar on marine mammals: Peter Tyack. Peter Tyack is also a member of Natural Resources Defense Council, which is an advocacy organization that has sued the Navy concerning effects of sonar on marine mammals. None of the analysis nor write up of the paper involved or was influenced by the sponsors of the research. Furthermore, the declarations provided do not alter the authors' adherence to all the PloSONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: PT IB DM NDM. Performed the experiments: PT IB DM NQ GH NDM. Analyzed the data: EP RM GH NQ NDM. Wrote the paper: RM EP GH NQ.