Date published: 2008/09/15
The BBC says:
Levels of noise in the world's oceans are causing serious problems for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals, a report warns.
The International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) says undersea noise blocks animals' communication and disrupts feeding.
Naval sonar has been implicated in the mass deaths of some cetaceans.
In some regions, the level of ocean noise is doubling each decade, and Ifaw says protective measures are failing.
"Humanity is literally drowning out marine mammals," said Robbie Marsland, UK director of Ifaw.
"While nobody knows the precise consequences for specific animals, unless the international community takes preventive measures we are likely to discover only too late the terrible damage we're causing."
In its global assessment of cetacean species, released last month, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) concluded that ocean noise posed a significant threat.
...
Noise generated by ships' engines and propellers, and by seismic airguns used in oil and gas exploration, produce a range of frequencies that can interfere with both these groups of species, Ifaw concludes.
Surprise, Ifaw wants the world to stop. And while they might get some support for making naval sonar less hostile to marine animals, they are going to have a much harder sell if they go after ordinary international shipping, because the entire global economy depends on this. Of course Ifaw is academic middle class, so doesn't care about the economy, but the rest of the world does.
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