Many marine animals rely on making sound and listening for sound queues as a matter of survival. Research recently published in the journal Global Change Biology showed that noise created by passing ships reduced the space that Bryde’s whales can communicate in by up to 87 per cent. Whilst shipping is central to our economy and delivery of goods and services, the noise generated by human activity in and on the water has a negative effect on our marine life.
You can also hear Biologist and Soundscape Ecologist Dr Craig Radford from the University of Auckland discuss this topic in more detail at this year’s Hauraki Gulf Marine Park Seminar.