Ambient habitat noise and vibration at the Georgia Aquarium.

Underwater and in-air noise evaluations were completed in performance pool systems at Georgia Aquarium under normal operating conditions and with performance sound tracks playing. Ambient sound pressure levels at in-pool locations, with corresponding vibration measures from life support system (LSS) pumps, were measured in operating configurations, from shut down to full operation. Results indicate noise levels in the low frequency ranges below 100 Hz were the highest produced by the LSS relative to species hearing thresholds. The LSS had an acoustic impact of about 10 dB at frequencies up to 700 Hz, with a 20 dB re 1 μPa impact above 1000 Hz.