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…
Oceans of noise
It was a bit over a decade ago that a catastrophic whale stranding event brought the public’s attention to the fact that noise in the ocean could be lethal to marine mammals. The particular stranding was a consequence of mid-frequency…
Even marine invertebrates suffer our noisy habits
Quite a number of years ago Earth Island sponsored a “Literature Review” paper on marine animal hearing we called “Fish Ears” It was presented at the US Navy-sponsored “Environmental Consequences of Underwater Sound” (ECOUS) conference in San Antonio Texas and…
Bio-inspired communication signals
Of the many papers presented this week at the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers/Marine Technology Society (IEEE/MTS) Ocean conference two really stood out as possible solutions to the impacts of communication signals on marine mammals. These papers discussed using…
Theory and Practice
This week I find myself at a conference/trade show co-sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Marine Technology Society (MTS) focused on the ocean. This event is bringing together professionals involved in design and fabrication…
Ultrasound Ocean Noises Pose Risk to Marine Life
Noise pollution has now become one of the common themes of human-generated impacts on the ocean. Shipping noise, military sonar, and seismic airgun surveys are increasingly becoming part of the public discussion in marine conservation. These noises are easy for…
Save the date! OCR Flamenco Concert and Fundraiser
October will be a busy month for OCR as we will be moving to our new offices in the historic Falkirk Cultural Center! To celebrate this move (and help cover the costs) we’ll be having a fundraising concert featuring the…
The US Navy really “goes for it” in training area plans
Given their candor in the recent past it is not too surprising that the US Navy their Atlantic Fleet Testing and Training (AFTT) plan will “inadvertently kill hundreds of whales and dolphins and injure thousands over the next five years.”…
Oops! Nix the date – 9/24 Book and ACS event
Last month we sent out a notice of a reception and presentation at the Bay Model where I would be also introducing my book “Hear Where We Are: Sound, Ecology, and Sense of Place” Unfortunately two things have conspired to…