MAKE UNDERWATER NOISE POLLUTION AN ISSUE….STOP DROWNING OUR OCEANS

 

Silence… increasingly rarer in this turbulent, vociferous world we call our own… Over 7 billion but, we share with so many others… in the aether, soil/land… and of course; the oceans… Whilst too often dismissed as an increasingly privileged, expensive and yet too often under-valued commodity; the bliss of peace… the yearning for it and the roles it places for us… reflects an often very overlooked, misunderstood tragic and indispensable necessity not just  for our own species but that of others… for communication, reproduction, transmission of experiences, navigation and ultimate survival… Yet, it faces unprecedented challenges via noise -that unwanted accumulation of sound and associated pollution impacts. The ocean is being drowned out!  And yet… there is little international action -even policy regulations or mere awareness and interest, from a world already besieged from a plethora of issues from climate change to overpopulation to pollution to erosion, IUU fisheries, migration, the COVID19 pandemic and other major disruption risks… As more and more people look towards the oceans via offering new investment frontiers to exploit, increasingly these oceans are being assaulted by a pernicious invisible threat to our marine ecosystems, that many are oblivious to. Yet, without investigating such areas, many efforts are futile: What are the implications for the blue economy? From mass scale industrial fisheries and mariculture, to offshore oil and gas rigs, to naval and seismic sonic blasts to oil rig, alternative marine fuels and seabed mining risks; from wind and wave energy turbines to mega port and shipping fleet developments, noise sources are intensifying from human sources. This, does not include human accelerated nature, frequency and intensity of climate change and natural disaster related events. This noisier world operates with comparatively few guidelines, no requirements for mandatory technology, awareness training and rights to a quieter, undisturbed environment, unlike other forms of pollution. It is less championed by activist, NGOs, innovators and researchers…  Nor does it often get the attention by policymakers, administrators, law enforcement and otherwise…. This petition calls for change. We need to stop drowning out our oceans…

 

We therefore petition for our policymakers to recognise underwater noise pollution is an issue. We ask to identify what are the true impacts of noise pollution for our oceans/coastal sector, our fisheries and communities. We ask to devote resources towards minimising the solution, updating regulations and striving towards greater global, local and regional cooperation on noise pollution. Other species who for whatever reasons may not have developed our technology and any legal or other protections cushioning the worst exposure on land rely upon the hundreds of miles of virtually instantaneous travel of the speed of sound for such message propagation and survival. The implications of a sound ravaged seascape have yet to be fully computed, even as the ocean economy is anticipated to exceed $3 trillion directly, excluding the values of net ecosystem services. As this initiative will develop further, research dating back to military experiments as far back as World War 2, confirm the comparative lack of benefits from voluntarily immersing oneself and that of other species to such radiation. Whilst countless examples testify the adverse effects of such exposure; virtually no evidence has been provided in counter-refutation showing the positive benefits of noise pollution to health and, stress reduction, communication, economic and ecological wellbeing -even by those who would argue that such ocean industry activities are essential.  For example, a 2021 University of Auckland research experiment physically undertook acoustic exposure pressures for various species in New Zealand’s Haruaki Gulf. This produced serious distress, diminished successful reproduction, communication and navigation up to 30% for bigeye and common triplefin and their audio systems at a longer distance but far less for crustaceans. In turn, though seemingly invisible effects, this will affect the viability of fisheries, aquaculture and the subsequent basis of many economies, especially in the Pacific region. This excludes the impact of military, research, seabed mining, ocean energy, oil and gas/alternative fuels -and associated equipment such as vessels, hydrophones, sensors and seismic surveys… Marine protected areas too are frequently not exempt from such areas. Also, as cruise, cargo, ferry, naval and other vessels get progressively larger and faster, their noise amid other pollution impacts will become increasingly more vociferous and deadlier in their less intended consequences…

 

We petition our political representatives and the stakeholders of the world towards the following aims:

1: To support the goal Stop Drowning The Ocean, Our Lands, Our Ecosystems and Selves in Superfluous Sound by restricting heavily or banning unnecessary volumes and sources wherever, practically possible

2: To Update Existing Legislation, develop policies and strategies to comprehensively identify, regulate and minimise the origins and impacts of noise pollution.

3: To Improve Research/Develop Monitoring Capacity to Assess Ocean Noise Pollution Over Time.

4: To Commit to Funding, Improving Human and Technical Capacity Towards Understanding Noise Pollution on land, coasts, in the ocean and in the air.

5: To improve enforcement and penalties for violators, not exempting government and military research.

6: To Raise Awareness, Communication and Engagement with various stakeholders on the issue of noise pollution, especially ocean/coastal affected noise pollution.

7: To enhance cooperation and coordination locally, regionally and globally to identify a common pathway and either update MARPOL to specifically focus on noise pollution or create a new global Treaty for underwater noise pollution

 

 It may not be glamorous but very few land, aerial and marine species are exempt from noise pollution exposure. And yet it is conspicuously underexamined and ignored by many global agendas… Even the implications of emerging space, blue, green and circular economy sectors, remain relatively under-investigated for such noise pollution. Aside from virtually non-existent international conventions, legislation and guidelines or standards; nations such as the USA have even virtually ignored the meaningful enforcement and implementation of their own 1972 Noise Control Act. In the US the civic group Quiet Communities estimated a 5-decibel standard reduction in sound pollution would save $4 billion in human healthcare costs including stress/psychological, hypertension and heart disease. The value of rare marine species could be even more so.  Comparatively few have focused on prioritising noise pollution -not only when it drowns out rest…thought… company and each other… but also the sounds of the natural world, the oceans and the Elements. And yet so much of itcan be so utterly superfluous… Nor does so much energy need to be blasted off and wasted as sound. It would be healthier, more economic and efficient if the noisiest human devices and contrivances/activities were significantly quieter. Alternatively, the enforcement of such measures needs to encourage legal liability. Whether once off or continuous, noise is not something we nor other species should have to accommodate, so intrusive and self-centred. Whether the malignant perpetrator is wearing protective equipment or not; the adverse externality costs on something for which many of us, and our fellow living organisms, derive at best minor discomfort and annoyance to at worse active stress, various strokes, disorientation, ruptures and even death… provides catastrophe…  We currently measure only a fraction of such injuries. Many sources confirm this such as a review of over 10,000 sources globally via a February 2023, Science journal article entitled “Soundscape of the Anthropocene Ocean.”  We have only our species to blame.  Shipping noise alone increased 32 fold in the past 50 years it computed. Many sounds are completely artificial at volumes 100 times or more their natural environs, how are we or any other species meant to adjust? What are the true long-term consequences of such exposure? Unlike other areas; it hard to escape, hard to address -and few actually bother to speak out and enforce against it… It amplifies echo-sound disorientation worsening bycatch and overfishing along with mass carnage presented by strandings.  This does not even start to cover the significant gap The polar regions and remotest atolls of the Pacific, Indian Ocean and Atlantic can barely escape… The BBNJ High Seas Treaty, UNCLOS and other major legislation remains woefully silent on specifically addressing ocean noise pollution

 

Virtually no funding, research or enforcement capacity anywhere in the world exists. It is seldom championed by the media, NGOs and civic society, for all its impact.  US President Biden allocated $12 billion for the Environment Protection Agency -and not a single $ to noise pollution. There are virtually no or very marginal penalties and incentives -financial, technical, legal or otherwise to prompt many stakeholders to comply on land…. In the oceans, too often its worse… with even less pressure. Virtually no political support exists among these countries but are people ever asked about whether they would support reduction efforts? Unlike possibly more gradual climate change and other risks -sound pollution may be immediate and instantaneous… but the effects are not just immediate but likely to trigger permanent damage as species suffer direct repercussions. Apart from the US’s paralysis, in March 2023 the European Commission report on enacting the Environmental Noise Directive and the Zero Pollution Action Plan warned against such glacial progress, urging the need for far more efforts to be made in recognising traffic noise as amid the greatest threats to human health aside from air pollution across Europe. It proposed the need to reduce direct impacts of traffic noise by 30% by 2030. In the words of Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevičius: “Noise is not just a nuisance - it is a serious threat to our health. Noise increases our stress levels, disrupts our sleep, affects our learning abilities, and even contributes to strokes and heart diseases. The report published today shows that we need to act more decisively to tackle this often-underestimated threat to public health. Acting on noise not only represents a duty to improve citizens’ health, but also a huge economic opportunity to stimulate innovations for noise abatement technologies by the EU industry, in particular in the mobility sector.

Finally, “Undersea noise pollution is like the death of a thousand cuts. Each sound in itself may not be a matter of critical concern, but taken all together, the noise from shipping, seismic surveys and military activity is creating a totally different environment that existed even fifty years ago. That high level of noise is bound to have a hard, sweeping impact on life in the sea. Regulating these sound sources can be difficult, but one has to start somewhere. Every breath we take is dependent on the ocean. And unless we really understand how that vast system works and take better care of it, it is not just the ocean that’s in jeopardy. Its our whole future that’s at stake…”

 

Dr Sylvia Earle, Mission Blue Hope spot and Former Chief Scientist NOAA.

 

There are many benefits towards not drowning out the oceans -if we just pause and savour what silence can mean… Or if we contemplate how noise is truly transforming our world -and our potential prospects of an aureal blue economy future… unless we act against this manifest universal peril -of underwater noise pollution… Too few are thinking about it or acting… What is sobering… is the lack of attention. Like the ticking population explosion and migration problem… it is the invisible pachyderm in the room, that few want to acknowledge is there -let alone confront. If you think adaptation to this is expensive… try being one of those several billion people dependent on coasts, marine fisheries, dependent ecosystems and trade activities… The more we become consciously aware… the more our actions serve as real catalysts of change… Once more species start dying for natural causes or a far more necessary purpose such as subsistence, -only then can we determine true progress to be actually made.