Ocean Noise: Something as Harmless as Sound can Destroy Sea Life!

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NYT > Whales and Whaling
News about whales and whaling, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Anti-Whaling Vessel Damaged in a Collision at Sea
An anti-whaling group said Wednesday that the new high-speed boat it was using to harass Japanese whalers has been badly damaged in a violent collision at sea.
125 Beached Whales Die in New Zealand, but Rescuers Coax 43 Others Back to Sea
The surviving polit whales were wrapped in sheets to keep them dry until they could be refloated at high tide.
Aerial View: Albatrosses Following a Killer Whale
Surveillance cameras are everywhere these days, capturing just about everything: the good, the bad, the unmentionable.
An Uncertain Future for a House With a Past
The house of the grandson of a slave who became the only African-American whaling captain from Martha?s Vineyard may face destruction instead of the restoration its owners hope for.

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Ocean Noise

When one thinks of all the dangers threatening whales and dolphins, ocean noise is not one that comes to mind right away, but is one that is increasing every day. A study showed that ambient noise in the oceans rose 10 decibels between 1950 and 1975 - a 900% increase in 25 years! The "Silent World" that Jacques Cousteau described years ago is no longer silent.

Marine mammals depend on sound to communicate, navigate and to search for food in our oceans. When we increase the ambient noise in the oceans, we decrease their ability to survive.

Sources of Ocean Noise

• A modern-day supertanking cruising at 17 knots (about 20 mph) fills the lower frequencies with a steady sonic roar of about 200 decibels, the equivalent of a commercial jet at takeoff.
  
• The offshore oil industry relies on the explosive power of airguns, discharging tens of thousands of blasts as loud as 250 decibels.
  
• The Navy is developing a "low-frequency" active sonar system, designed to detect foreign submarines by bombarding the seas with sound, reportedly in the range of 235 decibels or higher. (See Navy Noise!)
  
• The federal government is preparing to test a new pulsed power "acoustic harassment" technology that will intentionally bombard marine mammals with potentially deafening underwater noise and disorienting shock waves for the purpose of determining whether California sea lions can be prevented from eating the fish caught by party boats. This noise will be as loud as 230 decibels!

 

 

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