Brian Barton
Underwater acoustic pollution, also known as ocean noise pollution, is a form of environmental pollution caused by human activities such as commercial shipping, oil exploration, seismic surveys, offshore wind turbine installation, and military sonar maneuvers. These activities generate unnatural and excessive sound underwater, which can have detrimental effects on marine wildlife, particularly marine mammals like whales and dolphins, as they depend on sound for their survival. The noise interferes with their natural behaviors, communication, and ability to hear, leading to stress, physiological changes, and even death. With increasing awareness of the threats posed by underwater acoustic pollution, efforts are being made by organizations such as IFAW and WWF to advocate for regulations and protected areas to reduce its impacts and safeguard marine life.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Definition | A form of environmental pollution caused by human activities that generate unnatural and excessive sound underwater |
| Sources | Commercial shipping, oil exploration, seismic surveys, offshore wind turbine installation, military sonar, propeller cavitation, construction, cargo ships, naval vessels, seismic airguns, port activity, dredging, seabed excavation |
| Impact | Marine wildlife is extremely damaged by noise pollution as most depend on sound for their survival. It interferes with the key life functions of marine mammals, causing temporary or permanent hearing loss, behavioural and physiological changes, masking, injury, and even death. |
| Regions | Arctic Ocean, Southern Ocean, European Union waters, Port of Vancouver, Balearic Islands, Spanish mainland |
| Organisations | WWF, OceanCare, IFAW, European Commission, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), International Maritime Organization (IMO), Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) |
| Solutions | Building new ships with quieting technology, ending seismic surveys for oil and gas, accelerating the transition towards low-noise renewable energy sources, reducing ship speeds, using quieter technologies like marine vibroseis, achieving better propeller maintenance and optimisation, slowing ships down |
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What You'll Learn
Sources of underwater acoustic pollution
Shipping and vessel traffic: The noise generated by cargo ships can reach up to 190 decibels, which is louder than a plane taking off. This noise interferes with the natural functions of marine animals, such as mating, navigation, and feeding, leading to hearing loss, stress, and difficulty feeding. Additionally, the low-frequency noise produced by shipping vessels matches the frequency of several marine animals, including seals, sea lions, and fish, disrupting their daily activities.
Offshore construction: Pile driving, drilling, and machinery operations associated with offshore wind farms, oil rigs, and infrastructure development create loud, point-source noises that propagate far into the water.
Sonar systems: Military naval operations utilize sonar systems that emit high-intensity pulses of sound to detect submarines and map ocean floors. These sounds can penetrate to deeper depths than shipping or industrial activities, disorienting and disrupting marine animals.
Seismic surveys for oil and gas: Survey vessels send explosive sound waves deep into the ocean floor to detect oil and gas resources. These explosions can last from days to weeks, creating an extremely loud and disruptive environment for marine life. Airguns used in these surveys are among the loudest sources of noise, emitting intense noise blasts of up to 260 decibels every 10 to 15 seconds.
Explosions and military activities: Underwater explosions and military activities contribute to noise pollution, with sound waves propagating through the water and affecting marine life.
It is important to note that while these human-made sources of noise pollution have increased dramatically in recent decades, they can be mitigated through global initiatives, technological advancements, and stricter regulations to protect marine ecosystems and wildlife that rely on sound for survival.
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Impact on marine wildlife
Marine species are highly dependent on sound for their survival, and underwater noise pollution can have a range of impacts on marine wildlife. Firstly, it can interfere with the detection of acoustic signals, masking the sounds produced by marine animals. This can lead to changes in individual and social behaviour, such as altered vocalisations, as well as affecting their metabolisms and population recruitment. For example, increased ship noise has caused bottlenose dolphins to simplify their vocal calls, which may reduce the effectiveness of their communication.
Secondly, noise pollution can cause hearing loss in marine animals, which can prove fatal when sound is a key tool for survival. Naval sonar devices, which emit very loud noises, have been linked to mass strandings of beaked whales, with some evidence suggesting that these whales may have died from decompression sickness or haemorrhaging to vital organs.
Underwater noise can also lead to reduced communication in whales and dolphins, impacting their reproduction. For example, noise from ships can cause beluga whales to panic and flee, and narwhals to modify their vocalisations and move towards the shore. Additionally, the migration of whales can be delayed by noise, causing them to become entrapped in ice and die.
The constant noise from shipping, as well as intensive noise sources such as airguns in oil and gas exploration, can also have broader impacts on marine wildlife beyond marine mammals. For example, a single airgun has been found to kill a large part of the zooplankton, the base of the marine food web, within a 1.2-kilometre radius. Boat noise has also been linked to increased mortality in sea hare larvae and caused stress in common prawns and lobsters, impairing their health and nutritional condition.
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Behavioural changes in marine mammals
Marine mammals rely on sound to communicate, locate mates and prey, avoid predators, navigate, and defend their territories. They are highly dependent on underwater sound as visibility is often low, but sound travels extremely well through water.
However, noise pollution in the marine environment has increased dramatically over the past few decades, threatening the natural soundscape. This type of pollution comes from ships, seismic surveys, explosions, construction, and sonar devices.
A foreign sound can disrupt the natural behaviour of marine mammals, causing them to move away from the noise, adjust their activities to avoid noisy times, or increase their anti-predatory behaviour. For example, in an experiment in Southern California, blue whales responded to active sonar by stopping feeding, increasing their swimming speed, and moving away from the sound source. This can have significant impacts on their individual fitness, foraging ecology, and population health.
Noise pollution can also interfere with the detection of acoustic signals, leading to masking—where the ability to detect sound is overlapped or covered by another sound. Sonar technology has been linked to acute decompression sickness in beached whales, with mass strandings of beaked whales receiving international attention. The impact of naval sonar on marine mammals is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to human-originated noise pollution in the ocean.
Some species are more sensitive to noise disturbance, with young animals, in particular, being more susceptible. For example, walruses sometimes stampede into the water in response to aircraft overflights, which can result in the death of calves.
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Conservation efforts
Technological Innovations
Technological advancements are offering innovative solutions to reduce underwater acoustic pollution. For example, Hanwha Ocean has developed the Masker-Air System, an air injection technology that creates an air curtain around the hull of a ship to prevent or reduce the escape of noise generated inside. Quieting technologies such as these have significant potential to reduce underwater noise pollution and restore natural marine ecosystems. Additionally, new technologies like AI-driven sound modelling systems can predict and reduce the ecological impact of noise pollution, promoting healthier ocean environments.
International Regulations and Initiatives
Global initiatives and international regulations are also aiming to address underwater acoustic pollution. The United Nations is working towards comprehensive frameworks to protect marine biodiversity, including noise mitigation measures. The International Maritime Organization has developed voluntary guidelines for managing underwater noise, but stronger commitments and clearer implementation strategies are necessary to ensure progress. The WWF is advocating for mandatory regulations and working with the Arctic Council's Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME) working group to better understand and reduce underwater noise effects through operational and technological changes.
Research and Education
Continued research and education are crucial to mitigating the effects of underwater acoustic pollution on marine life. Acoustic monitoring technologies are being used to assess reef health by analysing the soundscapes of degraded and healthy coral ecosystems, aiding in early detection and targeted restoration efforts. Scientists are also using underwater speakers to play recorded sounds from healthy reefs, attracting juvenile fish to aid in ecosystem recovery.
Slowing Shipping Speeds
Reducing vessel speed is one of the most effective measures to immediately decrease underwater noise pollution. Slower ships produce less noise, inadvertently regulating underwater noise levels. This also results in reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants, benefiting both the marine environment and climate change mitigation efforts.
Transition to Renewable Energy Sources
The shift towards renewable energy sources like tidal and wave energy can help reduce underwater acoustic pollution by decreasing the dependence on noise-intensive activities associated with fossil fuel extraction. This includes ending seismic surveys for oil and gas, which generate extremely loud noises that can be heard up to thousands of kilometres away and have devastating effects on marine life.
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Reducing underwater acoustic pollution
Slowing Down Shipping Vessels
Reducing the speed of ships has been proven to significantly decrease noise emissions. For example, slowing down the global shipping fleet by 10-20% can lead to a noise reduction of 40-67%. This strategy has been successfully implemented by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in British Columbia, where ships are rerouted away from the feeding areas of endangered southern resident killer whales and are recommended to maintain slower speeds in specific waters.
Air Injection Technology
Hanwha Ocean is at the forefront of researching air injection technology to reduce underwater noise pollution. Their Masker-Air System creates an air curtain around a ship's hull, preventing or reducing the escape of noise generated inside. This technology has been applied to specialized vessels, and Hanwha is working to expand its use to merchant ships.
Redesigning Ship Propellers
The design of ship propellers plays a significant role in reducing propeller noise. By redesigning propellers and incorporating acoustic curtains or walls of air bubbles, the volume of anthropogenic noise that disrupts ocean life can be lowered.
Strategic Traffic Management
Implementing strategic management of water traffic can help mitigate noise pollution. This includes rerouting vessels away from sensitive areas of the marine ecosystem and important habitats for wildlife. Additionally, voluntary programs can be established to encourage ships to avoid specific areas during critical times of the year for marine life.
Quieting Technology for New Ships
Building new ships with quieting technology is essential for reducing underwater noise. This includes incorporating advanced acoustic water tanks, towing tanks, and cavitation tunnels with automated systems.
Transition to Low-Noise Renewable Energy Sources
Ending seismic surveys for oil and gas and transitioning to low-noise renewable energy sources can significantly reduce underwater noise pollution. Seismic airguns used in the search for oil and gas emit noise of up to 260 decibels every 10-15 seconds, causing detrimental effects on marine life.
It is important to note that regions will need to tailor their solutions based on their unique shipping traffic, infrastructure, underwater landscape, and local marine life. By combining these strategies and raising awareness about the impacts of underwater acoustic pollution, we can work towards quieter and healthier oceans.
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Frequently asked questions
Underwater acoustic pollution, also known as underwater noise pollution, is a form of environmental pollution caused by human activities that generate unnatural and excessive sound underwater.
Sources of underwater acoustic pollution include commercial shipping, oil exploration, seismic surveys, offshore wind turbine installation, and military sonar.
Marine mammals rely on sound to communicate, find food, and avoid danger. Underwater acoustic pollution can interfere with their ability to hear natural sounds, disrupting their behaviour and communication. It can also cause hearing loss, stress, and even death.
