An assessment of the noise field near the Sable Gully area

The Sable Gully Is a submarine canyon at the edge of the continental shelf, east of Sable Island. This region is a potential Maritime Protected Area under the Oceans Act. New data sets in the area of Sable Bank, Sable Gully and Laurentian Channel were analyzed to characterize the current ambient noise field in these areas. It was found that the new data sets fit reasonably well with previously published levels for Sable Bank. The directionality of the noise field showed a small increase in the noise levels in the north or northeast direction. This directionality agrees with a previous analysis of several sites on the Scotian Shelf and Grand Banks area