Experts studying ocean noise have found that 2020 will be the year of less ocean noise
Experts studying ocean noise have conducted extensive listening tests and found that 2020 will be a “quiet year” for the oceans.
The global COVID-19 pandemic has led to embargo policies in various countries. Prof Peter Tyack, a professor at the University of St Andrews, explains, “The blockade has slowed down global transport to some extent.” Otherwise, the ocean “couldn’t” have had a quiet year.
Scientists plan to listen to the ocean’s soundscape before, during and after the blockade.
They have already placed 200 ocean hydrophones – underwater microphones that are located throughout the world’s oceans. “The idea is to use these signals to measure changes in noise and its effects on marine life, such as the calls of whales or schools of fish.” Professor Thiak said.
“As people and cities may have noticed, you can hear more birdsong or see more wildlife in your own environment when there is much less traffic noise and human activity. We need ways to detect these in the ocean.”
Scientists believe that noise pollution “drowns out the sound of the ocean. The aim is not only to measure how the soundscape of the ocean was briefly altered during the pandemic, but to take the opportunity to understand the impact of decades of increasing ocean noise on marine life. Combined with other methods such as animal tagging, the researchers hope to reveal the extent to which noise in the Anthropocene seas affects deep-sea organisms.
Professor Thiak added: “We already have a big impact on the world’s oceans – pollution and climate change. But it’s relatively easy to turn down the volume for noise problems.”
Professor Jennifer Miksis-Olds, an expert in ocean acoustics at the University of New Hampshire, said the data from the Year of the Quiet Ocean will provide more information than just noise pollution.
“We can learn a lot just by listening to the ocean.” She said, “One of my goals is to create a global map of ocean soundscapes where you can see the sound lines of shipping lines, see the migration patterns of whales, learn about climate change from their songs and even from the sound of collapsing icebergs.”
She added that listening to the ocean can help us “find a balance” between human activities and the natural processes of the ocean
There is growing evidence that over the decades, human-made noise has gradually lost its balance with the natural sounds of the ocean. According to a recent review of significant evidence published in the journal Science, activities such as shipping, construction, military activities, and oil and gas seabed surveys are “drowning out” the healthy ocean soundscape.
This effect is most evident in the mass strandings of some deep-diving whales, events that studies have linked to the use of naval sonar.
“But even juvenile fish use the sound of the reef to figure out where to settle.” Professor Thiak explained.
“Humans are used to using vision as our sense of distance – it lets us know where we are in the world. But if you’ve ever been scuba diving, you know that you can only see a few meters away, but you can hear sounds from kilometers away, even hundreds of kilometers away.”
“Marine organisms have evolved amazing mechanisms that can be used to understand the location of the environment they are in and to find prey and communicate.” Professor Thiak said, “So we need to change our mindset and stop asking how much more noise we can add to the ocean, but how we can reduce it and repair the damage.”
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