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Deepwater Wind agrees to limit activities to protect Right whales
May 9, 2014Deepwater Wind, which recently won the first-ever competitive lease auction for US offshore wind, has signed an agreement with a consortium of environmental organizations that affirms its intention to minimize potential impacts on critically endangered Right whales. The wind farm’s location, in Rhode Island Sound, is host to foraging Right whales each spring; the agreement […]
NATO sonar exercises, strandings in Crete
April 8, 2014While recent years have seen an apparent reduction in the number of sonar-related strandings, one of the world’s hot spots for such tragedies saw a rash of strandings in recent days. Two different stranding events occurred along the southern shore of Crete, the first involving 5-7 Cuvier’s beaked whales along a 16km stretch of coast, and […]
First ruling in new sonar challenges fails to limit huge take numbers
October 9, 2013The first ruling is in from the latest round of legal challenges to Naval training permits, and it’s a split decision. You’ll need to click through to read the full post to get all the details, but here’s a preview of the conclusion you’ll find at the end: It appears that the places that the […]
Blue, beaked whales stop foraging when exposed to sonar?
July 13, 2013AEI lay summary of:Goldbogen JA, Southall BL, DeRuiter SL, Calambokidis J, Friedlaender AS, Hazen EL, Falcone EA, Schorr GS, Douglas A, Moretti DJ, Kyburg C, McKenna MF, Tyack PL. 2013 Blue whales respond to simulated mid-frequency military sonar. Proc R Soc B 280: 20130657. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2013.0657 (download here)andDeRuiter SL, Southall BL, Calambokidis J, Zimmer WMX, Sadykova […]
Biologically rich areas off limits while Gulf seismic EIS is conducted
June 24, 2013Thirty months after environmental groups sued to force ongoing seismic survey programs in the Gulf of Mexico to be subject to more robust compliance with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act, a settlement announced this week requires full EIS’s to be completed within thirty months from now. In the meantime, surveys will be […]
Cooperative Wisconsin turbine noise study breaks new ground
January 15, 2013In December, four acoustic consulting firms collaborated to study wind turbine noise at three Brown County, Wisconsin homes that had been abandoned by their owners after the nearby Shirley Wind Project began operations. The study, organized by regional environmental group Clean Wisconsin and paid for by the state Public Regulatory Commission, will help inform the […]
New NOAA maps offer compelling picture of ocean noise
January 6, 2013In December, NOAA announced the release of the first large-scale ocean noise maps, which have been in development for the past two years. The Underwater Sound Field Mapping Working Group modeled many sources of sound occurring within 200 miles of the US coast (including ships, seismic surveys, sonar, pile driving, and oil platform decommissioning), as […]
Judge OK’s construction of Undersea Warfare Training Range near right whale habitat
September 10, 2012A US District Judge has ruled against NRDC and others who had challenged the Navy’s permit to build an instrumented training range off the coast of Georgia and Florida, claiming that construction should not proceed until the Navy completes the full EIS for the training activities that will take place there. Construction is slated to […]
Follow SOCAL D-tag and controlled exposure field work at SEABlog
July 31, 2012As usual, Brandon Southall is posting regularly from sea as his research team begins the third year of a five year Behavioral Response Study off the coast of southern California. The field work is largely focused on conducting controlled exposure experiments (CEE) on a fairly wide variety of species, in order to learn more about […]
Whales can dampen hearing: implications for ocean noise concerns
July 20, 2012You may have noticed a recent flurry of press reports about research in Hawaii that begins to quantify a long-suspected quality of cetacean hearing: the ability to dampen hearing sensitivity so that loud sounds don’t cause damage. Given the extremely loud volume of many whale calls, which are meant to be heard tens or hundreds […]
Canadian sonar heard in US critical orca habitat
February 9, 2012A Canadian frigate used its mid-frequency active sonar this week during a training exercise in Haro Strait, north of San Juan Island and south of Vancouver Island. The sonar emissions from the HMCS Ottowa (right) were picked up by whale researchers at Beam Institute, who raised concerns about sonar use in an area designated by […]
More detailed confirmation that beaked whales move away from sonar exercises
July 27, 2011This post is an AEI lay summary of the following paper: McCarthy, Moretti, Thomas, DiMarzio, Morrisey, Jarvis, Ward, Izzi, Dilley. Changes in spatial and temporal distribution and vocal behavior of Blainville’s beaked whales (Mesoplodon densirostris) during multiship exercises with mid-frequency sonar. Marine Mammal Science, Volume 27, Issue 3, July 2011. For the past several years, ongoing […]
Feds to assess Gulf seismic surveys for MMPA compliance
June 20, 2011Ongoing pressure from environmental groups has spurred the National Marine Fisheries Service to take a closer look at the effects of seismic surveys on whales in the Gulf of Mexico. The Obama administration has announced that NMFS will prepare a Letter of Authorization, which will look more closely at the question of whether current seismic survey […]
AEI is not a “wind objector”
June 2, 2011Thanks to Google News’ nifty customized news sections, I hear about articles worldwide that contain terms interesting to AEI, such as “ocean noise,” “wind turbine noise,” and, yup, “Acoustic Ecology.” Yesterday I saw that David Colby, one of the authors of the widely-read report on wind turbine health effects, had responded to an article that questioned […]
Key step toward identifying key beaked whale habitat, avoiding sonar exposure?
April 28, 2011A study just published is a tentative first step toward knowing where beaked whales may be foraging, and so perhaps avoiding exposing them to mid-frequency active sonar without having to see or hear them first. The study, briefly described in this press release, found that beaked whales were more numerous in an area of their […]
Beaked whales avoid sonar at low sound levels
March 16, 2011The latest in a series of studies looking at responses of beaked whales to Naval mid-frequency active sonar has provided some new details that reinforce our understanding that this family of deep-diving whales is extremely sensitive to noise intrusions. The study, which took place on a US Navy training range in the Bahamas which is […]
First-ever lawsuit challenges Gulf of Mexico oil, gas development
February 11, 2011For the first time, decades of oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico is being challenged in court, on the grounds that the noise of seismic surveys used to pinpoint oil reservoirs has a negative impact on the region’s endangered sperm whales. A consortium of environmental groups, including the NRDC, CBD, and Sierra Club […]
AEI at Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life conference
September 20, 2010I’ve been way lax in posting about my trip to Cork, Ireland for the 2nd International Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life conference, which took place in mid-August. It was such a treat to take part in this gathering of nearly 250 ocean scientists and regulators, leavened with a sprinkling of NGO folks. It was a […]
Right whale gives birth about 10 miles from proposed Undersea Warfare Training Range
March 24, 2010A whale surveying team enjoyed a rare sight yesterday, as a right whale gave birth as they watched from a small plane. It was only the second time that a birth had been observed in this species, but the excitement was tempered a bit by the fact that it took place about ten miles from […]
AEI annual report, Ocean Noise 2009 is now available
March 15, 2010The Acoustic Ecology Institute has published Ocean Noise 2009, the fourth in its annual series of reports reviewing new research and regulatory developments in ocean noise. AEI’s annual recaps are widely anticipated and circulated among ocean noise scientists and regulators, as well as within NGO and journalist communities. The report can be viewed or downloaded […]
Hawaii humpback sanctuary management review beginning now: will noise be on the table?
March 8, 2010The Hawaiian Islands Humback Whale National Marine Sanctuary is beginning a review of its management plan, and ocean noise activists are pushing for sanctuary managers to bring noise issues to the forefront. The Sanctuary was established in 1992 to help protect the humpback whale winter nursery grounds in shallow waters around several of the islands. […]
NOAA steps up, announces new active sonar oversight with possible off-limits areas
January 22, 2010NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco has announced a series of sweeping new initiatives designed to push the Navy forward in its efforts to understand and mitigate the impacts of mid-frequency active sonar on marine mammals. In response to a request from the Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ), which asked NOAA to conduct a comprehensive review of […]
Bias in Military (or Conservation) Funded Ocean Noise Research
December 5, 2009(this item first appeared in AEI’s lay summaries of new research) Wade, Whitehead, Weilgart. Conflict of interest in research on anthropogenic noise and marine mammals: Does funding bias conclusions? Marine Policy 34 (2010) 320-327. In the United States, the US Navy funds about 70% of the research into the effects of ocean noise on wildlife […]
Marine Spatial Planning: Getting real about ocean zoning
November 30, 2009As the Obama administration moves toward completion of its ocean policy and planning blueprint, it’s becoming clear that the new kid on the block has grown into a dynamic young adult, ready to change the shape of ocean planning forever. Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is taking a central role in the ocean task force’s work, […]
Mediterranean Beaked Whale BRS Cruise: No Tags, New Passive Monitoring Technique
October 22, 2009A five-week beaked whale Behavioral Response Study in the Mediterranean concluded in early September with a mixed bag of results: while researchers were unable to affix D-tags to any beaked or pilot whales, they were quite successful in using a new mobile Passive Acoustic Monitoring system which could be very useful in years to come. […]