news
December 3, 2008
'Noise pollution' in world's oceans a threat: environmentalists
ROME – Environmentalists say increasing noise pollution in the world's oceans is downing out the songs whales and dolphins use to communicate.
Speaking on the sidelines of a UN wildlife conference in Rome, they say the problem ranges from increasing commercial shipping and seismic surveys to a new generation of military sonar.
They say sound pollution from such devices not only confounds these sea mammals, but appears to be threatening their very survival.
They say these cetaceans—which once communicated over thousands of kilometres to forage and mate—are now losing touch with each other.
Climate change may also be contributing to the problem.
Experts say the warming climate is changing the chemistry of the oceans and making sound travel farther through sea water, adding to the overall noise pollution.
"Call it a cocktail-party effect," said Mark Simmonds, director of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, a Britain-based NGO. "You have to speak louder and louder until no one can hear each other anymore."
Representatives of more than 100 governments are gathered in Rome for a meeting of the UN-backed Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
The agenda of the conference, which ends Friday, includes ways to increase protection for endangered species, including measures to mitigate underwater noise.
© 2008 The Canadian Press
