Over 675 dolphins have been found dead along the Florida to Texas Gulf Coast since February 2010. Initially people suspected that the BP oil spill and dispersant use might be to blame. A report from NOAA corroborates this with a…
Tag: seismic
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 Acoustic Ecology of Geophysical Surveys
OCR advisory board member and acoustic ecologist Jim Cummings sent us a New York Times article about life aboard geophysical research vessel (RV) Marcus G. Langseth wherein marine geologist Bernard Coakley writes about the acoustic environment aboard the vessel after…
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…
Field Report from the Acoustics Society Meeting
I am spending the week in Baltimore, Maryland with a large aggregation of acousticians – perhaps 2000 folks, presenting papers and conferring about all matters acoustic. (A good collective pronoun might be a “treatment of acousticians…”) The field of acoustics…
Low level seismic survey noise interrupts Blue Whale calls
A recent publication by Lucia Di Lorio and Chris Clark reveals a significant difference in Blue Whale call behavior as a consequence of seismic survey noise generated by “sparkers” – an impulse generator which uses an electrical discharge spark to…
Norwegian fishermen get a little testy over seismic surveys
Norwegians have known for years that seismic surveys compromise fisheries. Some of the benchmark studies confirming this have come from Norwegian scientists.[1] While US fisheries interests have not been able to get much traction on this issue (for a host…
Increasing evidence of Seismic Survey impacts on marine life
An article was published in the BBC News website referring to a recently published paper by Lucia Di Iorio and Christopher Clark[1] indicating that seismic surveys can interfere with Blue Whale feeding behaviors. The letter mentions that the blue whales…
Canada DFO intro
The Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is sponsoring a national workshop on the mitigation practices for seismic airgun exploration. This event will be attended by a whole array of marine scientists, oil and gas industry engineers, and a…
Tasmanian multi-species mass stranding – March 2, 2009
Another tragedy linked to ocean noise pollution: a multi-species stranding linked to seismic surveys. This event involved some 189 pilot whales and 10 dolphins in Naracoopa, Tasmania. For a local article see here: http://www.watoday.com.au/national/stranded-whales-herded-out-to-sea-20090303-8mom.html Tasmania has a long history of…