An emerging priority in marine noise pollution research is identifying marine “acoustic refugia” where noise levels are relatively low and good-quality habitat is available to acoustically sensitive species. The endangered Southern Resident population of killer whales (Orcinus orca) that inhabits the transboundary Salish Sea in Canada and the USA are affected by noise pollution. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial multicriteria evaluation (MCE) methods have been used to operationalize suitability analysis in ecology and conservation for site selection problems. However, commonly used methods lack the ability to represent complex logical relationships between input criteria. Therefore, the objective of this study is to apply a more advanced MCE method, known as Logic Scoring of Preference (LSP), to identify acoustic refugia for killer whales in the Salish Sea. This GIS-based LSP-MCE approach considers multiple input criteria by combining input data representing killer whale habitat requirements with noise pollution and other factors to identify suitable acoustic refugia. The results indicate the locations of suitable acoustic refugia and how they are affected by noise pollution from marine vessels in three scenarios developed to represent different levels of vessel traffic. Identifying acoustic refugia can contribute to efforts to reduce the effect of marine noise pollution on killer whale populations by highlighting high-priority areas in which to implement policies such as traffic-limiting measures or marine protected areas. Moreover, the proposed LSP-MCE procedure combines criteria in a stepwise manner that can support environmental management decision-making processes and can be applied to other marine suitability analysis contexts.

海洋噪声污染研究的一个新兴优先事项是确定海洋“声学避难所”，其中噪声水平相对较低，并且对声学敏感的物种可以使用优质栖息地。濒临灭绝的南方虎鲸种群（Orcinus orca) 栖息在加拿大和美国的跨界萨利希海受到噪音污染的影响。地理信息系统 (GIS) 和空间多标准评估 (MCE) 方法已被用于在生态学和保护中对选址问题进行适宜性分析。然而，常用的方法缺乏表示输入标准之间复杂逻辑关系的能力。因此，本研究的目的是应用一种更先进的 MCE 方法，称为偏好逻辑评分 (LSP)，以确定萨利希海虎鲸的声学避难所。这种基于 GIS 的 LSP-MCE 方法通过将代表虎鲸栖息地要求的输入数据与噪声污染和其他因素相结合来考虑多个输入标准，以确定合适的声学避难所。结果表明了合适的声学避难所的位置以及它们如何在三种情景中受到来自船舶的噪声污染的影响，这些情景旨在代表不同水平的船舶交通。通过突出实施交通限制措施或海洋保护区等政策的优先区域，确定声学避难所有助于减少海洋噪音污染对虎鲸种群的影响。此外，提议的 LSP-MCE 程序以逐步的方式结合标准，可以支持环境管理决策过程，并可应用于其他海洋适宜性分析环境。通过突出实施交通限制措施或海洋保护区等政策的优先区域，确定声学避难所有助于减少海洋噪音污染对虎鲸种群的影响。此外，提议的 LSP-MCE 程序以逐步的方式结合标准，可以支持环境管理决策过程，并可应用于其他海洋适宜性分析环境。通过突出实施交通限制措施或海洋保护区等政策的优先区域，确定声学避难所有助于减少海洋噪音污染对虎鲸种群的影响。此外，提议的 LSP-MCE 程序以逐步的方式结合标准，可以支持环境管理决策过程，并可应用于其他海洋适宜性分析环境。