Report on the Health of the World's Oceans (5)

The issue of what to do about noise pollution is a tricky one. Do we halt military sonar, oil and gas drilling, and scientific testing? This seems very unlikely to happen. It would impede military operations, hurt us economically, and restrict the growth of knowledge. Sound travels further in water than through air (20) so large regions are affected by the noise pollution. It may be possible for a dolphin to hear deep-sea drilling up to 7,000 miles away (20). This makes netting areas off that will be affected by the noise pollution impossible, especially if the noise is coming from moving sources like boats and submarines.

One alternative to noise pollution is to limit the noise produced as much as possible. Another possible solution would be to send out warning noises to alert the animals before the loud, damaging noises are created. A noise that mimics the warning call of a whale or dolphin would be a good choice for an alarm signal. A final solution of creating a sound barrier would be possible only for stationary operations like drilling rigs. It would not work on military sonar, since the point of sonar is to send a noise out, and listen for the echo or "ping" back. A noise barrier would prevent the sonar from functioning.

continued next month. . .

Go To Page: 1 2