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Underwater Noise Pollution: Marine Environmental Awareness Course

Learn about the impacts of shipping noise on marine life, sources of underwater noise, and potential solutions. Discover how human activities interfere with marine animals' ability to use sound underwater.

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Underwater Noise Pollution: Marine Environmental Awareness Course

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  1. Marine environmentalawarenesscourse Underwater noise Name – Date

  2. Shipping noise Contents Introduction Use of sound underwater Sources of underwater noise Impacts of underwater noise The role of shipping Solutions 2 Photo credits: P. Gallego/North Sea Foundation

  3. 1. Introduction • Marine animals use sound underwater • Ships became motorized and grew in size: human-related underwater noise increased • Underwater noise interferes with the use of sound by animals • Difficult for animals to avoid disturbance Photo credits: www.BeeldbankVenW.nl, Rijkswaterstaat/North Sea Foundation

  4. 2. Use of sound underwater • In the ocean, visibility is limited • Sound travelsfaster and further in water • Marine mammals use sound as a primary sense Photo credits: NOAA’s Ark, animal collection / Karen Varndell 2008, Marine Photobank

  5. Use of sound by marine mammals • Communication • To maintainsocial order • Toattractmates • Todemonstrate fitness • Bond betweencalf and mother • To stimulatecooperation • To warnfordanger • Echolocation • Navigation Photo credits: NOAA’s Ark, animal collection / ProSea

  6. Use of sound byotheranimals • Many species of fish and invertebratesuse sound • to attract mates • to ward off predators Toadfish Spiny lobster Photo credits: NOAA’s Ark, animal collection

  7. 3. Sources of underwaternoise • Naturalsources • Biological • Physical • Humanactivities Photo credits: ProSea / www.BeeldbankVenW.nl, Rijkswaterstaat / North Sea Foundation

  8. 4. Impacts of under water noise • Human produced sounds cause problems: • Loud background noise • Same-frequency sounds • Masking of important sounds • Treshold shift • Suddenpressurechange • Change of behaviour • Ship strikes Photo credits: NOAA Maryland Department of Natural Resources

  9. Source: R. Kastelein

  10. 5. Role of shipping • Past decades: more and biggerships • Large shipsproducerelativelyloud and low-frequency sounds Photo credits: North Sea Foundation / ProSea

  11. Shippingincreasesunderwater background noise in general • Frequency band of vessel noise, 10Hz – 1 kHz, overlaps with the frequencies generally produced by whales, seals and sea lions Illustration credits: NOAA

  12. 6. Solutions • Underwaternoise of shippingnotregulated • Recognised as an issue by IMO – MEPC • Technicallypossibletoconstruct quieter ships, including adaptions to propellers

  13. Questions?

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