Tag: noise pollution

 ABP Marine Environmental Research (ABPmer) prepared a report on behalf of the UK Marine Management Organisation on underwater noise in the South marine plan areas. Quantification of underwater noise is a current and evolving topic in marine environmental science that is relevant to marine plan policy development. It is recognised that there is currently insufficient data to support a quantitative assessment of underwater noise levels and its impact on the natural environment at marine plan or national scale. This research and development work represents an initial step in addressing the recognised gap in availability of consistent plan scale indicative map(s) of anthropogenic underwater noise distribution and levels to support marine planning.A data and literature review of academic journals, government, non-government organisations and industry reports identified a wide range of marine noise sources. It found vessel traffic, fishinthis can be presented as g, and dredging to be the principle anthropogenic continuous noise sources relevant to the South plan areas.Indicative maps can inform sustainable development through improved awareness and consideration of continuous underwater noise in impact assessments, especially in relation to protected and commercially valuable species.This work resulted in the development of a reusable GIS tool that enables quantitative modelling of underwater noise ...

 As governments and industries expand their use of high-decibel seismic surveys to explore the ocean bottom for resources, experts from eight universities and environmental organizations are calling for new global standards and mitigation strategies. Their goal is to minimize the amount of sound the surveys produce and reduce risks the surveys and other underwater human noise pollution poses to vulnerable marine life.Firms and agencies conducting the surveys would benefit from these new measures, the experts assert, because instead of having to navigate an assortment of rules that vary by nation or region, they would have a uniform set of standards to follow."In recent years, we've seen an increase in the use of seismic surveys for oil and gas exploration and research, and for establishing national resource claims on ever-larger geographic scales. Surveys are now occurring in, or proposed for, many previously unexploited regions including parts of the Arctic Ocean and off the U.S. Atlantic coast," said Douglas P. Nowacek, an expert on marine ecology and bioacoustics at Duke University."The time has come for industries, governments, scientists and environmental organizations to work together to set practical guidelines to minimize the risks," he said.Nowacek and his colleagues published their recommendations in a peer-reviewed ...

  Green Marine has signed a nine-month contract with Transport Canada to provide insight on underwater noise generated by shipping and its effects on marine life, along with potential solutions. “I am pleased to announce Transport Canada’s support to this project,” said the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport. “The report that will be presented by Green Marine will help us to make informed decisions on how to minimize the underwater impacts of our marine transportation system.” “This agreement is a logical next step following the Memorandum of Cooperation that Green Marine and Transport Canada signed in 2012,” explained David Bolduc, Green Marine’s executive director. “We share the goal of enhancing environmental protection and performance in the marine shipping sector and we found a concrete way to collaborate in that regard with this project.” To meet the contract terms, Green Marine has hired Véronique Nolet as project manager – marine habitat. While temporarily replacing the organization’s program manager last fall, she laid out the foundations for some of Green Marine’s future environmental performance indicators regarding underwater noise. She also set up a working group to focus on the issue and three meetings have been held to date. In addition to ...

  A team of scientists from the University of St Andrews has developed a new computer modelling tool for assessing the impact of noise from human disturbance, such as offshore wind development, on marine mammal populations. The team, led by Professor John Harwood of the School of Biology, has created the interim Population Consequences of Disturbance (PCOD) framework for assessing the consequences of human-induced noise-disturbance on animal populations. The study is published today in the journal Methods in Ecology and Evolution. Changes in natural patterns of animal behaviour and health resulting from them being disturbed may alter the conservation status of a population if the activity affects the ability of individuals to survive, breed or grow. However, information to forecast population-level consequences of such changes is often lacking. The project team developed an interim framework to assess impacts when evidence is sparse. Crucially, the model shows how daily effects of being disturbed, which are often straightforward to estimate, can be scaled by the duration of disturbance and to multiple sources of disturbance. One important application for the PCOD framework is in the marine industry. Many industries use practices that involve the generation of underwater noise. These include shipping, oil and ...

 The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) posted an article on underwater noise, its sources, and its impact on marine life.Quiet enough to hear a pin drop or so noisy you can barely hear the person next to you? NOAA is now undertaking a novel effort to answer these questions.In 2014 NOAA began establishing its first-ever coordinated Ocean Noise Reference Station Network—a set of 10 undersea listening stations deployed around the United States designed to systematically measure ambient noise levels in the ocean. This effort—led by the NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in collaboration with NOAA Fisheries, NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries, and the National Park Service—represents the first large-scale effort to monitor long-term changes and trends in underwater sound spanning vast swaths of U.S. waters. The ocean noise network will “help scientists understand what ambient ocean sound levels are now, how they are changing over time, and what impacts man-made noise could have on marine life,” explains Principal Investigator Holger Klinck from NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory.The Significance of Background Noise to Marine Life Sound emitted from Heard Island as part of an experiment conducted in the early 1990s was picked up at sites in the Northern & Southern Atlantic & ...

Underwater-radiated noise from commercial ships may have both short and long-term negative consequences on marine life, especially marine mammals. IMO’s Edward Kleverlaan, Head, Office for LC/LP & Ocean Affairs, has outlined IMO’s work on measures to reduce underwater noise, including the Guidelines for the reduction of underwater noise from commercial shipping to address adverse impacts on marine life (MEPC.1/Circ.833), at the World Organisation of Dredging Associations (WODA) Workshop on Underwater Sound in Relation to Dredging​, in Paris, France . The workshop focused on: Role of sound in the behaviour and well-being of marine species and ecosystems; Major sources, and trends in the prevalence and magnitude, of underwater noise; Impacts of underwater noise on various types of species, as well as broader impacts on ecosystem health, including implications of cumulative impacts of multiple sources of noise; Major knowledge gaps regarding the short- and long-term negative consequences for marine animals and other biota in the marine environment, as well as socioeconomic implications.   Additional information IMO MEPC.1/ Circ.833 Experts debate underwater noise impact Bureau Veritas launches underwater noise reduction notation RINA tackles ocean noise pollution Source: IMO  In the start, I was frank with you propecia before and after has changed my ...

Videotel has launched a brand new training course, Noise and Vibration - The Forgotten Hazards, to coincide with the new legal requirements to reduce noise on board ships

ABB released third-party verification that its Onboard DC Grid helps vessels reduce their fuel consumption, cut noise and trim their environmental impact

Owners plan a quieter future