The ocean is becoming way too loud for marine life.

Most of the talk about ocean health is about plastic or warming, but I’ve been reading about "acoustic pollution" lately. Because sound travels so much faster and further in water than in air, the noise from giant cargo ships and seismic surveying is basically constant now.

For animals like whales or dolphins that rely entirely on sonar, this isn't just annoying—it’s like living in a room with a jet engine running 24/7. It mess up their mating, their hunting, and their ability to find their way home.

It’s weird how we have strict noise regulations for cities and airports, but the ocean is basically a free-for-all. Does anyone know if there’s any real tech being developed to make ship engines quieter?

Voir le contenu lié

Commentaires

jcachat2025-12-29 20:24

agreed, when I learned about this I immediately empathize with marine mammals - whales can communicate across the ocean & now it's completely drowned out by our mechanical noise.

I Imagine tetanus so bad it would drive me crazy, suicidal even - just cannot imagine what it would be like to be trapped and unable to escape that background noise

TinButtFlute2025-12-30 11:02

I think you meant "Tinnitus". That's a pretty good comparison of what it must be like for those animals living near busy shopping lanes. Or like when a suburb is adjacent to a highway and there's a constant roar of traffic.

jcachat2025-12-30 12:26

yes - thought autocorrect got me there . your analogy is correct, except they can hear noises across the ocean, so there isn't really a safe place. i believe water carries sound much further than air. so you don't gotta be next to a shipping lane per say to heard it's motors churning

KitC442025-12-29 20:29

This is actually affecting coral reef health as well. Again, something that isn't often discussed. But coral larvae find their way to the reef at least partly by following the sound of a reef - like fish crunching coral and algae. Without those sounds, they are unlikely to find a reef to settle in.

It's only one of the issues for reefs, but I agree that sound pollution underwater is causing problems for a host of marine animals.

vonbauernfeind2025-12-30 06:08

Boats are crazy loud. I dive, and I've been on reefs eith boat traffic overhead. Even small little single outboard motor boats 60' above are wildly loud, and drown out other sounds.

Sea-Louse2025-12-29 23:49

Any problems this is causing is now attributed to climate change. No meaningful action will be taken unfortunately.

BooBooSorkin2025-12-30 00:38

I agree as well ☝️

Konradleijon2025-12-30 02:25

I hate noise

Barefooted232025-12-30 06:35

There's a lot of work being done on it, both for new tech and for regulating the problem. Many countries include marine acoustic disturbance in impact assessments for large projects, and this means that there's work being done to make ships, construction, seismic surveying, etc quieter. It's slow and would benefit from people writing to politicians stating that this is an important issue to voters, but it's on the radar at least.

Excellent-Peach-23022025-12-31 17:14

I listen to OrcaLab's live hydrophone stream several times a day at random intervals/night sometimes. It has gotten SO much more annoying! Increasingly over time. And you can hear when a boat is coming from FOREVER away! And it lasts forever too.....it takes SO long for the boat noise to finally pass. I can't imagine being STUCK in there with that, and actually hearing it louder and feeling it. The noise is actually quite ear grating.

SpeakUpForBlue2025-12-31 17:49

I have worked as a marine mammal observer (MMO) during seismic surveys in the Arctic (It was a while ago circa 2008/2009). The regs in Canada state that the seismic instruments (Acoustic guns) have to be stopped if a whale comes within a specific radius of the ship (usually 1 km or 2 km). The MMOs act as an arm of the government when they are on the ship and control when the seismic instruments stop. The radius is calculated through a model based on the ocean environment and acoustic properties. The US has stricter laws through the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Ocean Noise is a big problem and does not get talked about enough in the public. There is a ton of research on it though.