Symposia
Noise from Shipping Operations and Marine Life: Technical, Operational and Economic Aspects of Noise Reduction
Man-made noise in the oceans has increased drastically over the last few decades. A great deal of this noise is contributed by shipping. The size of the world’s commercial fleet has tripled during the last 75 years and is certain to continue to grow. Shipping noise overlaps with the sounds used by various marine mammals, but particularly the great whales. Sound is crucial to the survival of whales as they use it for orientation, communication, foraging and for finding mates. The songs of the baleen whales, for example, which were once heard over thousands of kilometres, now fade into the noise at a small fraction of that distance. Without global action on ocean noise, it will become more and more difficult for whales to communicate and to find food and mates.
During our workshop on reduction of shipping noise, engineers, ship constructors, ship owners, acousticians and marine biologists discussed the effects of noise on whales. The experts agreed that shipping noise should be reduced as soon as possible.
Together we composed a “Statement of Participants” to call on states to request action by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). The IMO, a specialised organisation of the United Nations, is authorised to enact rules for international maritime safety and environmental issues. To support the proposal with substantiated knowledge we
further composed two documents containing the most important information about biological and technological questions.
At the end of June, the USA submitted a request to the IMO for them to consider instituting voluntary measures to reduce incidental noise from shipping. The IMO discussed this topic during their last MEPC meeting (Marine Environment Protection Commitee) in October and recognized a need for action. Therefore a corresponce group is established that addresses the problem of shipping noise.
In the report "An ocean full of noise" you can find further information about shipping noise and the effects on marine mammals that were discussed by participants.
The magazine "Marine Technology reporter" (MTR) published an article about the symposia, "What's All the Noise About", in it's June issue (vol. 51, nr. 5).