# A Rising Tide of Noise Is Now Easy to See



## Costas (Dec 11, 2012)

Προσπάθειες χαρτογράφησης του επιπέδου θορύβου στους ωκεανούς. "Σαν στο Μανχάτταν". Εμπορικά πλοία, αεροβόλα ερευνών για υδρογονάνθρακες, σόναρ υποβρυχίων. Αφιερωμένο στον κ. Μπουλντόζα που χλεύασε τον ευρωβουλευτή που έθεσε θέμα ηχητικής γενοκτονίας των φαλαινών τώρα με τις έρευνες για υδρογονάνθρακες στην Ελλάδα. Ακούστε και τα ηχητικά ντοκουμέντα.

A Rising Tide of Noise Is Now Easy to See (ΝΥΤ)

Sea mammals evolved sharp hearing to take advantage of sound’s reach and to compensate for poor visibility. The heads of whales and dolphins are mazes of resonant chambers and acoustic lenses that give the animals not only extraordinary hearing but complex voices they use to communicate.

In recent decades, humans have added raucous clatter to the primal chorus. Mr. Bahtiarian noted that the noise of a typical cargo vessel could rival that of a jet. Even louder, he added, are air guns fired near the surface from ships used in oil and gas exploration. Their waves radiate downward and penetrate deep into the seabed, helping oil companies locate hidden pockets of hydrocarbons.

Marine biologists have linked the human noises to reductions in mammalian vocalization, which suggests declines in foraging and breeding.

Worse, the Navy estimates that blasts from its sonars — used in training and to hunt enemy submarines — result in permanent hearing losses for hundreds of sea mammals every year and temporary losses for thousands. All told, annually the injured animals number more than a quarter million.


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