Smriti Suresh

Mrs. Domin

Language Arts 1

17 May 2016

The Invisible, Yet Loud Killer!

You are walking down the beach shoreline at dawn, with the waves calming you.

Suddenly, you come upon a horrifying sight. A whale is stranded, and it doesn’t seem to be

breathing. Who caused this? Why did this happen? Aliens? I think not. The reality is that

humans did. Humans caused the death of this marine animal. The ocean is the heart of the

Earth, and the animals that reside in the ocean are the heartbeat of the earth. Without these

marine animals, our Earth won’t be nearly as diverse or alive as it could be. Then why kill them

with sound, something that they use everyday! Every year, marine biologists find hundreds of

marine mammals stranded, and many times, dead. Humans are producing too much noise in

the ocean, and causing stranding and death of many marine mammals, and slowly causing the

collapse of the food chain.

Underwater noise pollution is the acute human-created sound that is released in the

ocean. It can come in the form of sonar tests, underwater missiles, large cargo ships, jet skis, oil

rigs, and seismic surveys used to find oil underwater. The sound that is discharged into the

ocean reaches to a minimum of 230 decibels (Loverock), and the maximum of 300 decibels

(Langman). Humans lose their hearing at 120 decibels (Langman). This shows how much noise is

released into the ocean by humans. To add on, sound travels faster underwater, then in the air.

It can also travel approximately 1,800 miles from the source of the sound (“Hard of Hearing”).
The San Diego University, has conducted many studies regarding the noise pollution in the

ocean, and the university states, “Anthropogenic noise in the ocean has increased substantially

in recent decades, the motorized vessels produce what is likely the most common form of

underwater noise pollution. Noise has the potential to induce physiological stress in marine

fishes, which may have negative ecological consequences” (“Studies Conducted…..Marine Fish).

This defines what sound pollution is. Many marine mammals use echolocation to locate and

prey on their food. When there is other sound interfering with the sound waves that travel

from them, the sound needed to locate their food doesn’t get back to the cetaceans’ melon,

the fatty organ that processes the sound and signals the marine mammal to go toward its’ prey.

Noise pollution deactivates the cetaceans’ ability to use their only way to find prey,

echolocation. This sums up all the basic crimes of sound pollution. Now let’s move onto some

major crimes this pollution has committed, crimes that humans and noise were partners in

crime in.

Noise produced by humans has caused the stranding of many cetaceans and causing

them to slowly die, therefore causing the population to decrease. To begin, many experts have

said that noise pollution is the cause of the stranding of whales and dolphins. More precisely,

Mark Simmons, a whale and dolphin trainer stated, “There is new evidence linking loud

underwater noise with some major strandings of marine mammals, especially deep diving

beaked whales” (“Hard of Hearing”). This supports my claim because Mark Simmons explains

that noise pollution causes the stranding of many marine animals. An example of a mass

stranding took place in March 16, 2000, at San Juan Island (“Noise Pollution”). A total of sixteen
beaked whales were stranded, and eight whales died (“Noise Pollution”). Later, when the

autopsy was performed, they found that the whales had muscle hemorrhaging, caused by too

much noise. They were also found to have ruptured eardrums. Marine biologists believe sonar

tests that the Navy had tested, which produce an immense amount of noise, was the culprit

behind the stranding at Juan Island. Porpoises, another marine mammal species were also

found dead. The San Juan Islander, the local news in San Juan Island, stated in their press

release that the Navy may be the cause of this disaster. To be precise, their exact words were,

“More than a dozen harbor porpoises were found dead on the beach near San Juan Islands

soon after the Navy tested active sonar in the Haro Strait. Videotape shows a pod of orca

whales in the foreground behaving erratically as the USS Shoup, a U.S. Navy vessel, emits loud

sonar blasts. Recent tests on one of the harbor porpoises revealed injuries consistent with

acoustic trauma” (“Noise Pollution”). Clearly, humans were the cause of the death of those 8

beaked whales, and those porpoises. This proves that too much sound and racket in the ocean

can cause the strandings of many marine mammals.

Moving on, noise pollution has caused ruptured eardrums among many sea mammals.

Ruptured eardrums may cause stranding, navigation problems, hearing loss, change in

behavior, and possibly death. To specify, navigation problems lead to dolphins and whales to

dive deeper than they should, causing them to go to the part of the ocean where they have

many predators. Also, their everyday food and prey will not be there. Hearing loss may

interfere with their use of echolocation, their only way to find their prey. Cetaceans do not

have good eyesight, and the murky water makes it even harder for them to look for and find
prey, therefore, they will have no food, and may possibly die of starvation. As this is not bad

enough, the U.S. Navy wants to test explosives and sonar in the ocean between 2014-2019

(Fobs). This can kill hundreds, possibly thousands of marine animals. An estimated number of

138,500 whales and dolphins were injured and killed by oil blasts, so imagine how many

animals would get affected of the noise is consistent for five years. This proves my claim that

noise can cause ruptured eardrums, which results in hearing loss, navigation problems, and the

loss of the use of echolocation.

Finally, noise pollution can indirectly affect humans, even though we are the cause of

the noise underwater. Noise pollution can cause the collapse of the food chain. When whales

and dolphins die, then their prey will overpopulate and eat food that is commonly eaten by

humans like shrimp and crabs. Consequently, sharks will not have any food, so they will die of

starvation, causing the food chain to collapse even more. Nathan Merchant, a PhD student

says, “Noise also affects other sea creatures such as crabs and fish which could have a knock-on

effect for the rest of the food chain and the fishing industry” (“Reducing Underwater…. Marine

Wildlife”). This proves my claim that humans can also get affected by noise pollution, even if

we produce it.

If we keep producing sound like what we are currently producing, then the oceanic

ecosystem will deteriorate, and soon the biodiversity of our earth will decline. So what can we

do prevent this? One way to stop the effectiveness of the noise, is to use bubble curtains.

Bubble curtains are like big bubbles filled with air that float on water. When the sound waves

hit the curtain at any speed, high or low, the impact of the sound will immediately be

compressed by the air bubble. This way, the job the humans need to get done will get done and
the sound will not be intense enough to harm the sea creatures that call the ocean their home.

Although this solution may not completely stop the noise, it will decrease its’ impact on marine

mammals. Another method to stop the amount of sound in the ocean is to limit the Navy. Many

mass strandings have happened because of the Navy testing sonar and explosives. If the Navy

has limits, then the amount of sound produced will also be limited. The National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has stated, “Regulation require the Navy to implement

measures designed to protect and minimize effects to marine mammals” (“Proper

Guidelines…..Effects of Sonar”). This is also a good way to limit the noise caused by the Navy.

The final strategy to try to help decrease the noise is to use sonar substitutes, because sonar

has caused a lot of noise underwater. One example of a sonar substitute is an autonomous

underwater vehicle (AUV). This substitute does the same work as sonar does, except it doesn’t

produce nearly as much sound that is usually produced by sonar. These solutions are remedies

for the pollution that has been going on for the past couple of decades. If these ideas are put to

action, then the amount of marine mammal deaths, strandings, and decibels of sound produce

will decrease significantly.

In conclusion, noise pollution is a big problem that we created and are not working

toward to stop. It is killing dozens of marine animals a day, increasing by the minute. It is not

only affecting marine life, but it is also indirectly affecting humans. If we don’t stop this

problem, many cetacean species will go extinct, and our Earth will slowly start to break down.

One by one, species by species. We must take a stand, and save the earth from noise pollution,

the invisible killer of marine mammals!

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