| Websites on Sound and the Sea: The websites
below are specific projects on noise and the sea. The sponsors
of these sites range from academic institutions, to domestic
regulatory bodies, to oceanographic research laboratories and
government agencies.
Discovery
of Sound in the Sea – University of Rhode Island
This comprehensive website investigates ocean noise from several
angles: It includes explanations of how different ocean users—fishermen,
researchers, the navy—use sound in their course of work
and a discussion on how sound and may specifically affect
marine mammals. The site also describes the physical properties
of sound, how it travels in water, and how it can be measured.
Acoustics
Program – National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
NMFS, as one of the two agencies in charge of operating the
permitting program under the Marine Mammal Protection Act,
has had to address ocean noise from a regulatory standpoint.
This website describes the history of noise regulation and
the current permitting requirements for noise-producers.
Project
SOLMAR – North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
NATO Undersea Research Center in La Spezia, Italy developed
a project in 1998 to investigate the effects of low frequency
sonar routinely used by the navy on marine mammals. The project
was charged with developing mitigation measures for NATO vessels
that operate sonar.
Advisory
Committee on Acoustic Impacts on Marine Mammals – Marine
Mammal Commission
The Marine Mammal Commission (MMC) is a government agency
that was established under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The MMC reviews federal actions that involve marine mammals
and provides advice on policies regarding marine mammal conservation.
As such, the MMC developed a special advisory committee to
investigate acoustic threats to marine mammals.
Sound
in the Sea – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA)
This website provides a description of a project initiated
in 2000 that was designed to measure ambient noise in the
ocean. NOAA installed an array of hydrophones off the coast
of California to monitor ocean noise from volcanoes, earthquakes,
marine mammal and fish vocalizations and anthropogenic sources.
Follow the link for a greater description of the project and
some results.
Whale
Communication Research – Bioacoustics Research Program,
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
This website provides biological information on how anthropogenic
sound affects the behavior of whales. It also has several
links to information on how whales use sound to communicate,
and how researchers use sound to study the migration patterns
and vocalizations of whales.
Underwater Acoustics: These websites provide
information on the physical properties of sound—including
discussions of frequency and decibel levels and how sound
behavior differs in water as opposed to in air.
Acoustics
Tutorial – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
This site provides a description of sound, focusing on explanations
of fundamental concepts.. It also includes audio clips of
sound at different frequencies.
Explanation
of Decibels Underwater – Bioacoustics Research Program,
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
This page explains the critical differences between sound
levels in water and sound in air: it is critical to understand
these distinctions when developing mitigation measures for
ocean noise.
Acoustical
Society of America
This organization, with a membership of nearly 7000, provides
a forum for discussion of sound from several perspectives.
Members include acousticians, physicists, biologists, musicians,
and architects. The society has a number of committees that
address the ocean noise issue specifically, including the
Acoustical Oceanography Committee, the Animal Bioacoustics
Committee, and the Underwater Acoustics Committee. The society
holds two meetings a year and publishes the Journal of
the Acoustical Society of America monthly.
Specific Groups: For information regarding
specific groups with vested interest in the issue, see the
links below:
SHIPPING
Shipping
Noise and Marine Mammals – International Conference
This conference was the first of its kind: it brought together
biologists, acousticians, policy makers and members of the
shipping industry to discuss shipping noise and marine mammals.
The conference focused on how the shipping industry might
respond to growing concerns about the effects of shipping
noise on marine mammals.
MILITARY
The
US Navy’s SURTASS System and Marine Mammal Research
Program
The US Navy established a research program to investigate
the potential effects of SURTASS on marine mammals. This link
provides more information on SURTASS system, the Navy’s
experiments, and provides the environmental documentation
the Navy has prepared in support of the SURTASS program.
Office
of Naval Research Marine Life Sciences Program
The office of Naval Research has funded research aiming to
better understand how anthropogenic noise affects marine mammals.
This website provides descriptions of current, ONR-funded
research projects.
ACOUSTICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
Acoustic
Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC), Marine Mammal Research
Program
ATOC was originally designed to measure changes in water temperature
based on sound speed—ultimately contributing to our
knowledge of global climate change. Because of concerns about
how the low frequency sound may affect marine mammals, a marine
mammal component was added to the project to study the effects
of the ATOC sound transmissions on marine mammals. This site
provides information on the ATOC program and its Marine Mammal
Research Program.
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Marine
Mammals and Noise – Natural Resources Defense Council
(NRDC)
The NRDC has been a major force pushing for the regulation
of noise in the ocean. This website provides the NRDC perspective,
including a link to “Sounding the Depths: Supertankers,
Sonars and the Rise of Undersea Noise”, an NRDC report
that explores the issue of underwater sound and marine mammals.
Noise
Pollution and Acoustic Harassment – The Humane Society
of The United States
The Humane Society has also played a significant role in protesting
the use of low frequency sonar by the Navy. For more information
on the Humane Society’s involvement in the issue, follow
this link.
Books and Reports
- McCarthy, Elena. 2004. International Regulation of Underwater
Sound: Establishing Rules and Standards to Address Ocean
Noise Pollution. Kluwer Academic Press, Boston, MA. See:
http://www.springeronline.com/sgw/cda/frontpage/0,11855,4-198-22-33856091-
0,00.html
This book provides a comprehensive look at
the issue of ocean noise, with careful attention to the
subtleties of the issue. It provides a detailed look at
the policy measures available to address ocean noise and
makes recommendations for how ocean noise production could
be regulated on an international level.
- National Research council. 1994. “Low-Frequency
Sound and Marine Mammals: Current Knowledge and Research
Needs.” National Academies Press, Washington DC. See:
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/4557.html
This series of books were commissioned by
the National Academies of Sciences: they comprehensively
address underwater sound and its effects on marine life.
- Richardson, W.J. et al. 1995. Marine Mammals and Noise.
Academic Press, San Diego, CA.
This book compiles data on frequency ranges
and sources levels of many types of noise in the ocean—both
biological and anthropogenic. It also compiles known effects
of noise on marine mammals, including experimental as well
as anecdotal evidence.
- Urick, Robert J. 1983. Principles of Underwater Sound.
Peninsula Publishing, Los Altos, CA.
This book provides an explanation of the
physics of sound in the sea, a survey of ambient noise sources
and an in-depth discussion of the sonar equations.
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