Marine vibrators are a new technology being developed for seismic surveys. These devices can transmit continuous instead of impulsive sound and operate over a narrower frequency band and at lower peak pressure than airguns, which is assumed to reduce their environmental impacts. We exposed spawning Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) to sound produced by a prototype, but full-scale, marine vibrator, and monitored behavioural responses of tagged cod using acoustic telemetry. Fish were exposed to 10 × 3 h continuous sound treatments over a 4-day period using a randomised-block design. Sound exposure levels were comparable to airgun exposure experiments conducted previously with the same set-up ranging from ∼115 to 145 dB re 1 μPa²s during exposure. Telemetry data were used to assess 1) whether marine vibrator exposure displaced cod from the spawning ground, through estimation of residence and survival probabilities, and 2) fine-scale behavioural responses within the test site, namely swimming depth, activity levels, displacement, and home ranges. Forty-two spawning cod were tagged prior to the exposure, with 22 present during the exposure. All 22 tags were equipped with pressure sensors and ten of these additionally with accelerometers. While no premature departure from the spawning site was observed, cod reacted to the exposure by decreasing their activity levels (by up to 50%, SE = 7%) and increasing their swimming depth (by up to 2.5 m, SE = 1.0 m) within the test site during the exposure period. These behavioural responses varied by sex and time of day. Cod reactions to a marine vibrator may be more pronounced than reactions to airguns, possibly because continuous sound is more disturbing to fish than intermittent sound at the same exposure levels. However, given sample size limitations of the present study, further studies with continuous sound are necessary to fully understand its impact and biological significance.

海洋振动器是一项为地震勘探而开发的新技术。这些设备可以传输连续而不是脉冲的声音，并且在比气枪更窄的频带和更低的峰值压力下工作，这被认为可以减少对环境的影响。我们将产卵的大西洋鳕鱼（ Gadus morhua ）暴露在原型全尺寸海洋振动器产生的声音中，并使用声学遥测技术监测标记鳕鱼的行为反应。使用随机区组设计，在 4 天的时间内对鱼进行 10 × 3 小时的连续声音处理。声音暴露水平与之前使用相同设置进行的气枪暴露实验相当，暴露期间范围为～115 至 145 dB re 1 μPa ² s。遥测数据用于评估 1) 通过估计居住和生存概率，海洋振动器暴露是否使鳕鱼从产卵场流离失所，2) 测试地点内的精细行为反应，即游泳深度、活动水平、位移和家庭范围。 42 条产卵鳕鱼在暴露前被标记，其中 22 条在暴露期间存在。所有 22 个标签都配备了压力传感器，其中 10 个标签还配备了加速度计。虽然没有观察到鳕鱼过早离开产卵地，但鳕鱼对暴露的反应是降低其活动水平（最多 50%，SE = 7%）并增加游泳深度（最多 2.5 m，SE = 1.0 m）暴露期间在测试场地内。这些行为反应因性别和一天中的时间而异。 鳕鱼对海洋振动器的反应可能比对气枪的反应更明显，这可能是因为在相同的暴露水平下，连续的声音比间歇的声音更能干扰鱼类。然而，鉴于本研究的样本量限制，有必要对连续声音进行进一步的研究，以充分了解其影响和生物学意义。