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Description
Maritime traffic represents a growing contributor to underwater acoustic pollution. Laboratory studies on noise impacts benefit from tightly controlled conditions, making it possible to reliably compare organisms exposed to sound with those kept in near-silent environments. By contrast, field-based experiments are often complex, particularly in confined and shallow systems such as the Venetian Lagoon, where preliminary surveys have revealed widespread background noise and a lack of quiet reference areas suitable for biological comparisons. Here we describe an experimental setup designed to evaluate the influence of noise on marine fouling communities. Two prototype structures (50×50×80 cm) were constructed: one made of stainless steel (internally lined with polyurethane) and the other of black nylon. Their capacity to attenuate a synthetic sound signal, generated by a submerged loudspeaker positioned 1 m from a hydrophone, was then assessed. Results indicated that the coated steel structure reduced sound levels by approximately 27 dB, while the nylon one achieved a reduction of about 11 dB. Based on these findings, we plan to build replicas incorporating a plexiglass panel (25×25 cm) to support fouling settlement and development. This system will enable comparative biological studies between environments with different levels of noise pollution.