We
all know that restaurant music is a noxious noise. But whales too suffer from
noise:
Shipping
noise causes chronic stress to whales, scientists have
shown for the first time, after using the halt in marine traffic after the 9/11
terrorist attacks to conduct a unique experiment.
The
effect on whales of propeller noise, military sonar and explosions set off in
the search for oil and gas is highly controversial. Environmental campaigners
claim the noise interferes with the singing of whales, or even kills
the animals, and are currently suing the US government
over the navy's use of sonar.
The
research, published on Wednesday, provides the first evidence of physical harm,
according to Rosalind Rolland, a researcher at the New England Aquarium, in
Boston, US.
"We
showed whales occupying oceans with high levels of ship noise have a chronic
stress response," said Rolland, who led the study. "We knew whales changed the
frequency of their calls to adapt to the ship noise, but this work shows it is
not merely an annoyance – it is having a physical effect."
Guardian, Feb. 8th