One of the more vexing challenges in understanding the effects of noise on marine animals has to do with assessing the “sub-lethal” impacts that compromise biological functions. These include the impacts from noises that mask or hide biologically significant signals,…
Category: Noise Pollution
Is the ocean really getting louder?
OCR mathematician Tom Reuterdahl and I have just finished a modeling exercise aimed at determining how loud the ocean was prior to industrial whaling. The premise of the investigation is that while some 50,000 cargo ships are now plying the…
An unusual climate of cooperation
I find myself again in Washington DC, this time for a workshop on “Marine Mammals and Sound” sponsored by an interagency group which includes NOAA, the Minerals Management Service, and the Navy. (Interagency cooperation will be one of the hallmarks…
A little louder please, I can’t hear you.
Mark Spalding from The Ocean Foundation sent us an article in Science Daily this week which discusses the findings of Susan Parks and colleagues regarding how North American Right whales are increasing their vocalization levels to overcome the background noise…
Navy files for “Incidental Take Permit” in the Gulf of Alaska
A few weeks back we submitted comments on the US Navy’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the expansion of Anti-submarine Warfare exercises in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA). The DEIS, at some 950 pages was very wordy, though we…
Communication signals threaten marine habitat
Back in the mid 1970’s Physical Oceanographer Walter Munk was evaluating the acoustical transmission characteristics of the ocean “sound channel” – an isothermal layer in the deep ocean that baleen whales use for long distance communication. His visionary work in…
The Neutrino and the Whale
A nicely written article in the Dec. 3 2009 issue Nature reveals how a how a neutrino detection experiment conducted in the Mediterranean Sea by nuclear physicists actually uncovered an abundance of sperm whales. The experiment involved placing hydrophones down…
Acoustic Harassment Devices potential cause for whale strandings
In response to our last article on noise impacts on terrestrial animals, OCR Board Member Seven Lutz sent out this London Times Online article about an increase in bottlenose whales stranding in Whales and Scotland. One potential cause indicated in…
Dust-up (and Follow-up) on seismic surveys in Juan de Fuca
EcoJustice is asking for hearings about a proposed geological survey of the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vents Marine Protected Area. There is some irony in conducting seismic surveys in marine protected areas, particularly an area that has been recognized as a habitat…
New Freeway planned for San Ignacio Lagoon
New Freeway planned for San Ignacio Lagoon San Ignacio Lagoon is the birthplace of a remarkable chapter in the relationship between whales and humans. The lagoons along the western coast of the American Continent, from San Francisco Bay in the…