It’s always a delight to learn something new about ocean life. Some 40 years ago whale researcher Roger Payne came to understand that Humpback whales sang complex, beautiful, and patterned songs. Their haunting melodies released in an LP as “The…
Tag: arctic
Follow-up on the Arctic Five Year Oil and Gas exploration plan
A few weeks back we asked you all to sign on to a petition addressed to NOAA chief Dr. Jane Lubchenko expressing concerns about the rampant expansion of Arctic oil and gas exploration and production (E&P). Thanks to your participation…
Tracking walrus’ movement using only one ear
A recent paper was published by marine research firm JASCO on localizing walruses using a single hydrophone. The technique they have refined is detailed in the article and involves assessing “multipath signals” – echoes from the sea surface and seafloor…
Fossil Fuel Noise in the Arctic – website launches!
If you have been anywhere within earshot of the media recently you may have noticed that the Oilmen are on a bit of a rampage. Any sustainable energy program, environmental regulation, or legal challenge that does not promote their agenda…
The Arctic is changing fast, and it’s going to cost us a lot
I’ve just finished reviewing a 1600 page “Draft Environmental Impact Statement” (DEIS) issued for public comments about the five year plan for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic. The objective of the “draft” is to provide US citizens the…
The Arctic is changing fast, and it’s going to cost us a lot
I’ve just finished reviewing a 1600 page “Draft Environmental Impact Statement” (DEIS) issued for public comments about the five year plan for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic. The objective of the “draft” is to provide US citizens the…
The Arctic is on Everybody’s Sonar Lately
Last week we attended an Acoustic Society conference in San Diego. This time I didn’t deliver a paper so it was mostly a reconnaissance trip – both to catch up with colleagues and to introduce Gwynn, our Digital Assets Manager…
OCR Correspondence in Nature Journal
About a month ago Nature Journal published a sobering article about the risks of pushing oil production into the arctic. “A Frozen Hell” by Jeffrey Short and Susan Murray examines the disaster potentials in attempting to extract oil in the…
Ocean Bioacoustics is becoming “mainstream.”
Ocean Hero Richard Charter sent me a fabulous article today from the New York Times about the soundscapes of the spring sea below the arctic ice. Written by Kate Stafford of from University of Washington Applied Physics Lab, the article…
A harbinger of things to come…
Norwegian shipyard Ulstein recently delivered the first of two super seismic vessels to the geophysical company CGGVeritas. These vessels are designed to tow seismic survey airgun and streamer arrays for deepwater offshore fossil fuel exploration and are outfitted for arctic…