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Ocean uproar: saving marine life from a barrage of noise

Ship engines, underwater blasts, sonar and oil drilling are filling the seas with sound. Researchers are now trying to pin down the damage humanity’s growing acoustic footprint has on ocean life.
By
  1. Nicola Jones

    1. Nicola Jones is a freelance journalist based in Pemberton, British Columbia, Canada.

A dolphin leaps out of the water ahead of the bow of a huge ship

Shipping noise disrupts dolphins’ communication systems. Credit: Richard Steinberger/500px/Getty

In Colombia’s Gulf of Tribugá, a deep channel runs from the Pacific Ocean into shore. It’s a promising place for a port. But right now, only the occasional ship plies these waters. Fishing in the tiny coastal towns around the gulf is small-scale; many locals use dugout canoes. This coast is peaceful in a way that most people don’t stop to think about: its seas are largely unmarred by human noise. Its underwater world is filled with the whistles and clicks of endangered humpback whales, the grunting of fishes and the snapping of shrimp.

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Nature 568, 158-161 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01098-6

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