Impacts of noise pollution on marine life

 Ocean noise pollution has become one of the major threat for the marine animals and the health of the ocean invisibly to our eyes. Noise pollution is an intense, widespread anthropogenic disturbance that can have highly detrimental impacts on natural populations, communities, and ecosystems across the globe.

Different sources of noise pollution;

    ·  Sonar sounds used in submarine detection.             
    ·   Underwater nuclear and chemical explosions.
    ·   Commercial Shipping traffic
    ·   Seismic air gun noise from oil and gas exploration.
    ·    Industrial activities and constructions.
    ·   Fishing and merchant vessels.
    ·   Military, navigation and research sonars. 

    When we add artificial noises to natural environment, it can alter the acoustic environment of these marine habitats. This can cause a range of problems from Physiological damages, Individual level impacts and disruption of behavior and startling.

•  Permanently damage (Permanently threshold shift) or temporally damage (temporally     threshold shift) to the auditory system.

• They may suffer chronic effects. Longer term stress can be decreased with ability to resist   diseases, survive, successfully reproduction and reduced food consumption. Hormone levels can  be changed.                                                                                                        

• Masking occurs when the perception of a sound is affected by presence of background noise. It     can decrease the efficiency of acoustic communication. So it reduces the ability of their  communication, navigation, locating prey, avoiding predators, and finding mates. 

•  Underwater noise pollution is more painful them. Exposure to extreme underwater noise in many hours causes the death of animals and some are beaching soon. Deaths can occur due to    hemorrhages, changed diving patterns, migration to newer places and damage to internal organs  and an overall panic response to foreign sounds. 

          E.g.:- whales can die soon 

• Some marine animals dislocate or move to newer location as a survival mechanism. It can change he marine diversity balance. 

• Noise pollution affect every living organisms in the sea, but mainly impact to dolphins, seals, fish,squid, crustacean, and sea turtles. Because they use sound to hunt, find mates, reproduce, and communicate with their babies.

 

·   Exposure to noise during embryonic stage increases sensitivity of fish to noise.

·  Increase the mortality rate of birth.  

· Some fish larvae find their home by following the sounds of coral reefs. Increasing the       noise make more difficult to find the suitable reefs could reduce their life span. 

Scientists present different solutions to reduce the noise pollution. Such as,

·   Develop the greener technology including quieter ships, hulls shapes and machinery. 

·  Optimized noise reduction design can be used to ships and other machines.

·   Avoid from over exploitation of marine resources. 

·   Establish the rules and regulations to minimize the ocean noise pollution not only in national level but also international level.

Ocean is the breath of life in the world, because it regulates so many phenomena to create beautiful and healthy world.  It regulates carbon dioxide, produces two thirds of our oxygen, and rich with high biodiversity from spectacular organisms. The ocean is the top place where we can find life. If the ocean dies, and becomes lifeless, the whole ecosystem of world will collapse. That’s why we need to protect species underwater and preserve the ocean to maintain life. 

References-

·        ·   https://www.ifaw.org/eu/journal/interview-ocean-noise-pollution-impact-marine-animals

·        ·   https://news.mongabay.com/2021/02/for-marine-life-human-noise-pollution-brings-death-by-a-               thousand-cuts/

Article by – Ishini Devindi