Noises of the ocean

Illustration by ngm.nationalgeographic.com

Water conducts noise, and thus, marine life is affected by noise, notably if it reaches “pollution stage”. The illustration here shows how marine mammal feeding and reproduction is affected by such noise. Natural noises like thunder and the tapping of strong rain may affect them, but louder noises caused by cruise and cargo ships as well as smaller vessels affect them even more [1,2,3]. The noise created by submarine vessels have also been linked as a cause of whale mass strandings [4], and military sonar has been shown to affect diving and feeding behaviour of blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus). To know more about this article, click here. [5]

To discover marine mammals natural behavior, visit SeaLifeBase.
 

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[1] Hardwood, J. 2001. Marine mammals and their environment in the twenty-first century. Journal of Mammalogy 82(3):630-640.

[2] Wright, et al., 2007. Do marine mammals experience stress related to anthropogenic noise? International Journal of Comparative Psychology 20:274-316.

[3] Erbe, C. 2002. Underwater noise of whale-watching boats and potential effects on killer whales (Orcinus orca), based on an acoustic impact model. Marine Mammal Science 18(2):394-418.

[4] National Geographic. 2013. The big idea. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/big-idea/noisy-ocean [Accessed 15/07/2013].

[5] Marine Society Today. 2013. Researchers record whales' reaction to sonar. http://marinesciencetoday.com/2013/07/08/researchers-record-whales-reaction-to-sonar/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MarineScienceToday+%28Marine+Science+Today%29 [Accessed 15/07/2013].

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