The noise in the ocean is killing tiny animals
Recent discoveries suggest that the noise in the ocean is not just affecting large mammals. It can also impact how well smaller animals grow representing a serious threat to the balance of ocean eco-system, on which we all rely, and therefore – a threat TO US ALL.
Dr. Raeanne Miller from the University of the Highlands and Islands and the Scottish Association of Marine Science is researching the recent discovery that sound pollution is disrupting the lives of these vitally important tiny animals.
Cause
With over 50,000 ships around the world, with oil and gas corporations carrying out seismic explorations every few seconds for weeks and months on end, off-shore construction and high intensity military sonar, the ocean is being polluted by constant and unbearably loud underwater noise.
We’ve seen the effects of this noise, causing whales to beach themselves, literally escaping the noise that they’re constantly exposed to in the ocean.
It’s not only large mammals, however, who rely on sound to communicate, and are therefore affected by this.
Tiny animals too, especially in the early stages of their lives, rely on sound as part of their lives and development.
Dr. Raeanne Miller from the University of the Highlands and Islands and the Scottish Association of Marine Science is researching the recent discovery that sound pollution is disrupting the lives of these vitally important tiny animals.
Important
It’s important because tiny animals (invertebrates) are the basis of the ocean ecosystem, and humans around the globe depend on them for food. One billion people around the world rely on fish as a primary source of food or income. Fish, mussels, oysters and crabs all feed on tiny animals (plankton) that use sound as a crucial part of their development. If sound disrupts the lives of these animals, the fish we rely on for our sustenance will starve.
Sound pollution is effectively threatening fish stocks and many of the declines in fisheries around the world may be due to this.
So, by upsetting the ocean ecosystem, there’s a threat to us on two counts:
If there were no more plankton and larvae, there would be no more fish in the sea.
And, plankton and algae provide us with half of the oxygen we breath so if they die, we will not survive.
Questions to answer
What specific kinds of sound are more destructive to the ocean ecosystem and particularly tiny animals and plankton and at what depth?
Dr. Miller will place hydrophones (underwater sound recorders) to record sound in different kinds of ocean habitats, such as reefs, seafloor or man-made structures.
The sound of the reef is an indication, of how well that ecosystem is functioning.
It’s vital to understand how the larvae of the animals that live on those reefs might find each other, find shelter, hunt for food with sound and how sound pollution affects their growth.
