Underwater Noise
Identifying the Problem Although the world’s oceans play a dominant role in the planet’s ecosystem, they are possibly the least understood natural habitats. Hans-Uwe, D., & Jiang-Shiou, H. (n.d.). PERSPECTIVES OF UNDERWATER OPTICS IN BIOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY AND PLANKTON ECOLOGY STUDIES. Retrieved 2010, from https://www.researchgate.net/profjle/Hans_Uwe_Dahms/publication/228623429_ Perspectives_of_underwater_optics_in_biological_oceanography_and_plankton_ecology_ studies/links/55b8651608aec0e5f4398d0d.pdf Human activities introduce sound into the environment either incidentally (by-product of their activities e.g., shipping, construction, fjshing, windfarms) or intentionally for a particular purpose (e.g., sonars for bottom imaging, mapping and detection of objects or active seismic sources, such as airguns, for deep sub- bottom imaging of geological structures).
“Researchers saw a complete absence of “Researchers saw a complete absence of life around the air gun,” life around the air gun,” - Mr Michael Jasny, director of marine mammal protection for the - Mr Michael Jasny, director of marine mammal protection for the Natural Resources Defense Council Natural Resources Defense Council “It’s ripping the communications system apart,” “And every aspect of their lives is dependent on sound, including fjnding food.” - Mr Clark, who has listened to whales near Ireland from coastal Virginia
Why Underwater Noise? Sound is a dominant feature of the underwater marine environment as a result of natural (biological sources, underwater earthquakes, wind) and human-made (anthropogenic) sound sources (Richardson et al. 1995; NRC 2003; Popper and Hastings 2009a,b) Marine mammals are especially at the forefront of the issues surrounding noise pollution in the ocean, as it is revealed often that many stranded and beached animals suffer from symptoms such as burst eardrums and internal bleeding. However, there is marine life that suffers in silence, and a recent study aims to reveal the damage that noise causes to the tiniest of marine life: plankton -Awesome Ocean We rely on sight on our daily life, while marine creatures mostly rely on sound as their main communication tool.
What is happening? The amount of variety of anthropogenic noises has risen signifjcantly during the last few decades in both the open ocean and the highly- populated coastal areas due to increasing human activities . (Jones, 2019) In 2017, researchers reported that seismic-survey blasts could scythe through the water and kill zooplankton more than one kilometre away; the acoustic beam dispatches them “like mowing the lawn” (Jones, 2019) Jones, N. (2019, April 10). Ocean uproar: Saving marine life from a barrage of noise. Retrieved September 10, 2020, from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01098-6
Mr Christopher Clark, who has studied whale communication for 40 years, described the noise as a “ living hell ” for undersea life, which is exquisitely tuned to sound. Mr Christopher Clark, a senior researcher in the bioacoustics program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology
What is happening? In the past, it has been assumed that planktons were safe from the effects of noise pollution as they were too small to refmect sound waves, but recent studies have suggested otherwise. For example, a team of researchers conducted a survey, before and after a seismic survey, on the population of zooplankton off the southeast coast of Tasmania. They found a 64% drop in zooplankton numbers just one hour after the seissmic survey. https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2017/09/20/ an-invisible-threat-to-an-invisible-victim-how-sound-is-affecting- zooplankton/
What is happening? The widespread use of air guns in underwater seismic surveys could be dramatically reducing populations of the microscopic animals at the base of the marine food chain. Plankton are vital for the health of ocean ecosystems, but their sensitivity to human-made noise is not well understood. Robert McCauley at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, and his team decided to investigate the effects of air- gun signals, similar to those used for the detection of oil reserves, in a bay in Tasmania. They towed nets through the water before and after fjring an air gun, and found that the abundance of collected zooplankton fell by more than 60% within an hour of the noise impulse, and that the number of dead animals more than doubled. Sonar measurements suggest that zooplankton abundance dropped more than a kilometre away from the source of the gun shot. Nature Ecol. Evol. (2017)
Sound behaves differently underwater than in air Because water is denser than air, sound travels 4x faster and farther in the ocean. Its speed and distance depends on the density of the water (determined by its temperature, salinity, and depth) and the frequency of the sound, measured in hertz (Hz). Some sounds, particularly low-frequency ones, can cover vast distances, even across ocean basins. Characteristic of sound in the sea: The small amount of sound, or energy, has the ability to travel through great distances without disappearing signifjcantly.
Concept 1 Concept 2 Fast forward in time. Time remap backwards. The Progression. To illustration and animate the noise idea is to have the artistic approach by visualising pollution create by human activities entering to and illustrating the outcome of the marine life the marine environment which affects the marine (consequences) based on the research. The purpose habitat. How different marine creatures / organism is to let the audiences come to a realisation that will react differently and the ultimate outcomes. what could happen if we don’t protect our current Showcasing the domino effect where the whole marine life habitat. marine world will be intensifjed. Idea is to educate / create awareness through sharing the stories / suffering of individual marine creatures / organism as different group of marine species react differently.
Case Study 1 Noise Aquarium Artist: Victoria Vesna An immersive installation that includes 3D animation and interactivity. It connects the audience to the diversity and beauty of the micro-creatures and by creating the noise and destruction of eco-system with our presence. We are asked to rethink our approach to living on this planet. Microscopic organisms often go unnoticed because they are nearly invisible. However, they have a critical impact on many ecosystems. Noise Aquarium shows tiny plankton creatures on big screens around the world to create awareness of these essential life forms and the threats they might face. In order to establish a connection to the reality of the actual organisms, they decided to use tomographic scans of actual plankton and use them in computer animation. The work process developed for this procedure enables them to present real living organisms as linear computer animations as well as in various interactive settings.
Case Study 2 The Aquatocene – Subaquatic Quest for Serenity Artist: Robertina Explore themes such as interspecies communication, underwater sound pollution, the possible coexistence of animals and machines, chemical processes, the origin of life, etc. The audio compositions of Aquatocene / The subaquatic quest for serenit encourage us to refmect upon the anthropogenic sonic impact on the underwater habitat and marine life, as well as illuminate awareness and underscore the importance of maintaining safe sound environments for animals living in the world’s oceans, seas, lakes and rivers. Over the last few years the artist had made a number of recordings using hydrophones in different locations around the globe. Underwater noise effects a great number of marine life forms which depend on the sub-aquatic sonic environment to survive. Despite the broad availability of popular aquatic sounds, we aren’t really aware that the underwater soundscape is as rich as the one heard by terrestrial creatures above water. Aside from lacking experience in terms of the fascinating diversity of marine sound, we are also not aware that sonic pollution caused by humans is already changing the soundscape of the waters and even the communication of its inhabitants.
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