In the early years of the ocean noise discussion there were heated debates about whether or not introduced noise was really harmful to marine life. Our understanding was shallow and the tools blunt. Even when animals washed ashore deafened, dead,…
Category: Noise Pollution
Perfunctory documents still haunting offshore regulations?
The initial post-disaster review of the contingency plans for the BP-Macondo operations revealed that the plans were a pile of boilerplate used as a proxy for the required papers. This was made clear to the public when the documents included…
Big noises going on out yonder
Dynamically stabilized oil drilling and production platform. With much of the offshore noise attention being focused on seismic airgun surveys, other aspects of the fossil fuel industry’s contribution to ocean noise pollution may be sneaking by our review –…
Geophysical and Geological EIS gateway to Atlantic fossil fuel production
Close to two years ago we reviewed and submitted comments to a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) five-year survey plan for the offshore uses of the Atlantic Seaboard issued by the Bureau of Offshore Energy Management (BOEM). At the time…
Atlantic G&G PEIS Shortcomings: 2014
Summary of Atlantic Geological and Geophysical Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Shortcomings: The PEIS should be reevaluated in the context of the most up-to-date NOAA Acoustic Guidelines. These guidelines have just recently been reviewed by the public and stakeholders whose…
Tragic Orca stranding in New Zealand
Two days ago a pod of nine orcas was found stranded on a rocky beach in southern New Zealand. Researchers are attempting to find out what may have caused the tragedy, but after being out of water for some time…
Acoustic Tour of Massachusetts Bay
Enjoy this quick overview of sounds in Massachusetts Bay, courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Ocean noise popping up in the press
It is with a strange ambivalence that I am seeing quite a lot of headlines about ocean noise issues popping up in the popular press. Just some of the issues that have come across my desk in the last few…
Support OCR
It is with deep gratitude (and a bit of surprise) that I look over the time horizon to realize that OCR has “been in business” for almost seven years. Much has been accomplished since our first clean (but stiff) website…
Some big things going on down below
Norway’s state owned petroleum company Statoil is installing “world’s biggest offshore machine” in the North Sea. It is a seafloor mounted compressor designed to pressurize low yielding oil and gas deposits to wring out more product. The premise of deploying…