Noise pollution is penetrating further into our oceans, endangering marine animals
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updated
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FebFebruary 2021 at 11:20pm
Dolphins use echolocation to find prey, but researchers are finding that sound is important to most marine animals.
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Human-generated noise pollution is increasingly dominating our oceans and drowning out marine life, with potentially negative consequences for our marine ecosystems.
Key points:
Most marine animals rely on sound for survival, but there s a lot of uncertainty about how human-generated noise impacts them
Human sounds are increasing: noise along international shipping routes jumped 32-fold in 50 years
Researchers argue noise needs to be considered alongside physical pollution when assessing the potential impact of development
Last modified on Mon 4 Jan 2021 11.30 EST
When Helen Williams’ father died suddenly, her partner left and her first dog died, a Maltese shih tzu puppy called Hudson was exactly the balm required.
“I needed something to love again and Hudson was it,” she says.
When, at 14 years old, Hudson’s declining health meant he had to be euthanised, it was among the most painful experiences of Williams’ life. “It was harder than my divorce,” says Williams, who worked as a personal assistant for 47 years before her retirement.
Williams had buried her previous dog in the back yard of her mother’s place in Melbourne. But that would not work for Hudson, who died three years ago. “I knew that I was going to be moving house shortly after his death … I thought, ‘I don’t want to leave Hudson there’,” she says.