Imagine trying to relax in your home while being bombarded with the explosive sounds of shotgun blasts as well as freight trains rumbling by. For many whales, dolphins and other marine life that depend on their hearing to survive, there is no way to escape the loud, human-made noises in their ocean home. The main culprits are vessels like cargo ships, along with sonar guns used by the U.S. Navy and air guns used in seismic oil and gas exploration. Their blasts are so loud that they are known to change the behavior of blue whales. But now, in what Michael Jasny, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Marine Mammal Protection Project, Land & Wildlife Program, referred to as “a sea change in the way we manage ocean noise off our shores,” NOAA has announced it plans to take action to reduce the noise in entire marine ecosystems.
Imagine trying to relax in your home while being bombarded with the explosive sounds of shotgun blasts as well as freight trains rumbling by. For many whales, dolphins and other marine life that depend on their hearing to survive, there is no way to escape the loud, human-made noises in their ocean home.
The main culprits are vessels like cargo ships, along with sonar guns used by the U.S. Navy and air guns used in seismic oil and gas exploration. Their blasts are so loud that they are known to change the behavior of blue whales.
Warmer ocean temperatures are not only wreaking climate-change-related havoc, but they are also amplifying the noise and enabling it to travel farther.
Cetaceans like whales and dolphins rely on sound to find prey, avoid predators, maintain family structures and find mates. Some whales have become so used to the noise of passing ships that they ignore them, Richard Merrick, the chief scientist for the NOAA’s fisheries service, told the New York Times. They no longer associate the noise with danger, and don’t always move safely out of the way.
And in addition to cetaceans, the noise is affecting all creatures in the sea, from shrimp and crabs to invertebrates to sea turtles and seabirds.
In the past, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the federal agency required to protect aquatic animals and their habitats listed in the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act, has focused on ways to reduce the noise specifically for cetaceans on a case-by-case basis.
For example, if a whale was seen near an underwater U.S. government work site, the firing of sonar guns would temporarily be stopped until the whale swam away. After a few minutes, the loud firing of guns would resume.
But now, in what Michael Jasny, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Marine Mammal Protection Project, Land & Wildlife Program, referred to as “a sea change in the way we manage ocean noise off our shores,” NOAA has announced it plans to take action to reduce the noise in entire marine ecosystems.
NOAA’s Ocean Noise Strategy Roadmap, which the agency has been working on for six years, is intended to be a more progressive plan for dealing with underwater noise pollution. Its four “overarching” goals are centered on science, management, the development of assessment and other decision-making tools, and public outreach.
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Image credit: NOAA
