Marine Noise Pollution

Introduction

Noise pollution carries painfully well through water, hurting species throughout the food chain from plankton right up to the whales who feed on them. Whales and dolphins have been known to beach themselves trying to get away from seismic blasting, but even standard boating activities including tourism, ferries, and the shipping industry have been causing increasing noise pollution which hurts so many species.

13:45 minute video dives into how loud our oceans are getting, and why. Then we learn about different solutions already being used to help turn the noise back down.

Sources of Marine Noise Pollution

Boats, Ferries, & Ships


“It’s remarkable. I’ve noticed there are no more fast ferries, which we normally when doing research have to avoid as they come passing by at 45 knots an hour […] There’s no underwater engine or boat noise. Then suddenly there’s dolphins and porpoises all around us in areas we would rarely see them before,” according to marine biologist Lindsay Porter.

Fishing: Bottom Trawling & Dynamite Fishing


Military & Fossil Fuels: Seismic Blasting


Solutions to Reduce Noise Pollution

The following topics are sorted alphabetically.

Bubble Curtains

Monitoring & Mapping

Transportation

Transportation produces a growing amount of noise pollution. Shipping lanes, air ports, train junctions, private vehicles, and highways all contribute to the growing din. This section explores some ways to solve the problem.

Ships & Boats

Propellers produce extreme underwater noise pollution which can effect organisms like plankton and rare glass sponges at the bottom of the food chain, all the way up to dolphins and whale. In addition propellers are extremely dangerous in wildlife collisions, leaving deep gashes on the bodies of whales and manatees.

Speed changes, changes to propellers, and switching to sail power can all help reduce noise while reducing other risks to wildlife.

Organisms Affected by Noise Pollution


Plankton

"Zooplankton underpin the health and productivity of global marine ecosystems. Here we present evidence that suggests seismic surveys cause significant mortality to zooplankton populations. Seismic surveys are used extensively to explore for petroleum resources using intense, low-frequency, acoustic impulse signals. Experimental air gun signal exposure decreased zooplankton abundance when compared with controls, as measured by sonar (~3–4 dB drop within 15–30 min) and net tows (median 64% decrease within 1 h), and caused a two- to threefold increase in dead adult and larval zooplankton. Impacts were observed out to the maximum 1.2 km range sampled, which was more than two orders of magnitude greater than the previously assumed impact range of 10 m. Although no adult krill were present, all larval krill were killed after air gun passage. There is a significant and unacknowledged potential for ocean ecosystem function and productivity to be negatively impacted by present seismic technology.

Phytoplankton and their grazers—zooplankton—underpin ocean productivity1,2, therefore significant impacts on plankton by anthropogenic sources have enormous implications for ocean ecosystem structure and health. In addition, a significant component of zooplankton communities comprises the larval stages of many commercial fisheries species. Healthy populations of fish, top predators and marine mammals are not possible without viable planktonic productivity1,2,3." - Widely Used Marine Seismic Survey Air Gun Operations Negatively Impact Zooplankton

Fish

One study found that "78 percent of the fish on a reef near the seismic survey “went missing,” compared to counts at the same time the three previous days during the evening hours, the peak time for fish, such as snapper, grouper and angelfish, to gather there."- Study: Seismic Testing Disrupts Fish Behavior

Marine Mammals

Dolphins

Whales

Ocean Reefs

Glass Reefs

Glass Sponges which make up some very rare glass reefs in the Northeast Pacific are sensitive to the vibrations of noise pollution. They are important for cleaning the ocean, but are already under threat from ocean acidification, bottom trawling, and climate change.

A ferry is known to pass over at least one of the recently discovered glass reefs of BC, Canada.

Oyster Reefs

Shellfish

Scallops

"Following a field-based air gun exposure regime, exposed scallops were found to have significantly increased mortality rates; disrupted behavioral patterns and reflex responses, both during and following exposure; and altered hemolymph biochemistry, physiology, and osmoregulation capacity. These results indicate that air gun exposure has a harmful impact on scallops and raises concern over the impact on bivalves, due to their global ecological and economic importance." - Research Gate