Post by account_disabled on Oct 25, 2023 4:03:25 GMT
It helps with communication, navigation, avoiding hazards and finding food. For example, clicker shrimp from the western Atlantic can make loud clicking noises that can stun and kill prey. Low-frequency signals from blue whales can travel thousands of miles. How are people polluting the ocean with noise? Anthropogenic noise in the ocean is often unintentionally generated by infrastructure and industry such as ships or oil platforms. However, it can also be created on purpose. For example, many navies use sonar to locate ships and submarines.
Geologists use seismic air guns to detect oil and gas on the ocean floor. The sound they moible number data make can exceed the decibel level which is fatal to humans. Noise travels four times faster in water than in air (approximately kilometers per second), so it can travel considerable distances. The rumbling sound of a seismic air gun can cause permanent hearing loss, tissue damage and death in nearby animals. In 2009, studies showed that a single shot of it caused an increase in zooplankton mortality from to . off the southern coast of Tasmania.
The use of sonar has also caused mass strandings of several species of whales in Central America, Europe and East Asia. Examination of the dead animals revealed injuries indicative of decompression sickness (the formation of nitrogen gas bubbles in the blood under high pressure). Scientists believe this was caused by the whale's sharp dive, startled by the noise.
Geologists use seismic air guns to detect oil and gas on the ocean floor. The sound they moible number data make can exceed the decibel level which is fatal to humans. Noise travels four times faster in water than in air (approximately kilometers per second), so it can travel considerable distances. The rumbling sound of a seismic air gun can cause permanent hearing loss, tissue damage and death in nearby animals. In 2009, studies showed that a single shot of it caused an increase in zooplankton mortality from to . off the southern coast of Tasmania.
The use of sonar has also caused mass strandings of several species of whales in Central America, Europe and East Asia. Examination of the dead animals revealed injuries indicative of decompression sickness (the formation of nitrogen gas bubbles in the blood under high pressure). Scientists believe this was caused by the whale's sharp dive, startled by the noise.