Why Do You Think Underwater Noises Affect The Ocean?

I believe that underwater noise has an effect on marine animals such as whales. Using information from the passages I will prove my point. Their numbers are declining rapidly and I believe that underwater noise has some involvement in the rapid decrease in their population numbers. The information given within the two passages will help prove my point.

There is no doubt that humans have always been intrigued with the majestic beauty of the large giants found in all of the world’s oceans. Whales and people have had a long history together, marked by many turns of events.

Humans fish to survive and in doing so they will target specific species leading to overfishing. Sound pollution is causing issues with the wildlife of the ocean in how they communicate and move around. With human interaction comes trash which gets left in the ocean and affects many different species.

Oceans cover approximately 75% of Earth 's surface and are vital to this planet and the people who inhabit it. Oceans provide food, natural resources, and recreation for nearly everyone in this world. Unfortunately Oceans have been receiving mass amount of pollutants including oil spills, toxic waste dumping, and industrial dumping. These pollutants will have negative impacts on the wildlife in the ocean, as we are seeing already with the Coral Reefs, and soon enough it will begin to affect our lives as well.

“… building a tank the size of Rhode Island wouldn’t be large enough for a six-ton male killer whale such as Tilikum, an animal capable of swimming 100 miles a day,” states an anonymous whale expert. Whales have been in captivity since 1861 when P.T. Barnum displayed the first live whale that was captured in Canada. However, Barnum had no idea how to care for the mammal and it died after only a week in captivity. (Animal Legal and Historical Center, 2014) Being up close with killer whales could give us some clues about how they interact with each other, including physical behavior, their dialect, and how their pods work together as a family unit. However, what we are finding is that whales who belong in the wild are suffering in

Cetaceans use sound extensively in both communication, hunting, and navigation. However as humanity continues to make use of the ocean we are constantly filling it with equipment that produces high amounts of sound. These devices are starting to have an impact on cetaceans worldwide, from mass strandings often linked to military exercises to area denials caused by busy commercial shipping lanes and seismic surveys. If consideration is not taken towards this problem now it could develop into something that could have degrading effects on cetacean populations in the future.

II. the second reason is because the whales do a lot of turning since they cannot swim in a straight line as they do in the wild, thus bending the fin.

Whales resort to pacing around the tank in circles to emulate the fast strong feeling of a swim normally done in the wild in an attempt to keep their dorsal fin upright.

Bottlenose dolphins produce a extensive variety sounds that are divided into two categories: pulsed emissions, i.e. echolocation clicks and burst-pulsed sounds; and non-pulsed signals, i.e. whistles (Caldwell et al., 1990; Janik, 2013) (Figure 1:2).

When these sea animals are held in captivity, they help contribute to research of their species. Researchers at SeaWorld learned that mother killer whale’s vocalization repertoires were passed on to their calves from generation to generation. Basically the killer whale calves learn words from their mothers, like we do. Dr. Barlow from Busch Gardens learned the vocalizations of hippos when they are above and underwater. Using a lighted pad, they have trained hippos to respond to various tones when they are under the water. If sea animals were not held in aquariums or marine parks veterinarians would not be able to know what is healthy and not for their species when there might be something they have never seen especially when they are out in the wild.

On Saturday May 20th a confused Humpback whale gets stuck in the Ventura Harbor in California. The Coast Guard attempted to guide the Whale in various ways. The First way was to lure it with food but it did not take the bait. The next way was to emit sounds in the ocean to also lure it out but again it did not. Officials said they were worried about all the boats in the harbor being damaged because of the whale.

Whales as animals are not easy to track because they move to fast and they live far from the land. Also when they move it is impossible to find any signs of their presence. For many biologist studying whales is challenging and they have tried many complex techniques but without results. Studying these animals with Snotbot sometimes it is inefficient and too expensive.

Ocean pollution is one of the most urgent issues in our world today. The ocean is crucial to our ecosystem and it is being severely damaged at an alarmingly increasing rate. In this paper I will educate about the role the ocean plays in our beautiful Earth, why it is being so widely ignored and dismissed, the causes of pollution, and its effects on animals and humans alike.

The constructions of the turbines alone are creating an effect on these mammals because of the frequency of noise that is emitted into the water. These frequencies disrupt mammal communication, location and location of other species around them.

Another very interesting thing that I have found out in this essay by Regina Blackstock is a case that occurred in 1962 when some Lockheed Aircraft Corporation scientists erected a barrier across a channel with strong microphones. When the dolphins approached it, clicking noises were heard. The dolphins gathered into a group in nearby shallow