WIKIMEDIA, NOAAWhales that exploit deep, dark ocean waters often rely on acoustic communication. The deep sea has been relatively quiet for millions of years, but now a cacophony of human activities, including seismic surveys for oil and gas, is adding noise to the underwater soundscape. That’s led to increased interest in understanding how to measure and mitigate the disruptive impacts of all this extra noise on whales, particularly those that use low-frequency sound—similar in frequency to that used in seismic surveys—for echolocation.
Duke University oceanographer Doug Nowacek and his colleagues have analyzed evidence on the effects of seismic surveys on marine mammals accumulated over four decades, which when combined with their own studies near the Russian coast north of Japan, they’ve used to suggest approaches for seismic surveys in environmentally sensitive areas. Their work and recommendations were published in Aquatic Mammals today (January 19).
Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Marine and Polar Programme, said the research was motivated by the Russian firm Sakhalin Energy’s plans to extract liquefied natural gas from around Sakhalin Island, a region of the North Pacific that’s a shallow-water feeding area of the Western Gray whale (Eschrichtius robustus). Affecting a genetically isolated sub-population ...
