![]() In the ocean, sound travels further than light, and is used by everything from krill to stingrays. “But there are so many animals that haven’t been studied at all.” This applies, for example, to nearly all the world’s 30,000 fish species. “Clearly there are some species-dolphins, tooth whales, killer whales-that use echolocation, sound for hunting prey, and quieter oceans are important for them,” says Colbert. Over the past 50 years, shipping has increased low-frequency noise on major routes 32-fold, they found.īut beyond charismatic species such as white dolphins, the effects of noise pollution could reverberate all across the animal kingdom, says Benjamin Colbert, a researcher at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. ![]() But really the threat to the ocean soundscape has not been receiving the attention it should.”ĭuarte and his team discovered that ocean soundscapes are changing because of declines in the number of “sound-producing” animals and increases in man-made racket. “All the focus is placed on climate change, overfishing, plastic, and habitat loss. “It’s a matter of urgency we take action on noise,” says Carlos Duarte, professor of marine science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, who led the review. A 2021 literature review published in the journal Science revealed that 90 percent of the 500 studies analyzed found excessive noise caused “significant harm” to marine mammals, such as whales, seals and dolphins, and four-fifths of fish and invertebrates. Noise pollution has been overlooked, experts say. “The benefits are immediate.” The bane of noise “What was surprising was the scale and how quickly it happened,” says Matt Pine, lead author on the study. This increased the communication range of fish and dolphins by up to 65 percent. Similar research in New Zealand found that during the Marc 2020 pandemic lockdown, ambient sound levels in shipping channels dropped nearly threefold within 12 hours. Research by the WWF in collaboration with Seamar, StylesGroup Underwater Acoustics, the University of Victoria, and Oceanway Corp found that during the pandemic-when ferry traffic halted-the Chinese white dolphin’s levels of foraging jumped, seen during 70 percent of researchers’ observations-up from 8.5 percent before. As a result, the two cetaceans local to Hong Kong, Sousa chinensis and the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise ( Neophocaena phocaenoides) have been rated “vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List since 2017. These animals rely on sound for feeding, socializing, and navigation, and are sensitive to loud noises, which can cause hearing loss or even death. They face threats such as prey depletion, habitat loss, water pollution, and ship strikes, but a growing body of research into the damaging effects of noise pollution has set alarm bells ringing. The dolphins are sometimes known as the “giant panda of the sea,” and inhabit shallow, estuarine waters near shore. Since 2016, Woo and her team have been carrying out acoustic monitoring at around a dozen locations in the area and found that noise disturbances-a cacophony of buzzing propellers, submarine drilling, industrial trawlers, and more-have shrunk the animals’ communication range by up to 45 percent. “The dolphins are being suffocated by man-made noise,” says Doris Woo, project manager for cetacean conservation at WWF Hong Kong. But they are declining every year due to “severe human disturbance,” according to the WWF, a conservation group.Īnd the number within Hong Kong-mostly inhabiting the waters south of Lantau Island-has dropped by over 80 percent in the past 15 years, according to WWF. Meanwhile, the surrounding Pearl River Delta is home to somewhere around 2,000 Chinese white dolphins ( Sousa chinensis), likely the world’s largest discrete population. It is one of the most densely-urbanized areas on the planet. ![]() May 20, 2022.The subtropical sea surrounding Hong Kong is a noisy place: A flow of massive freight ships chug through constantly high-speed ferries jet time-pressed businesspeople to meetings in towers and the coastal development is never-ending. 201.314 Labeling of drug preparations containing salicylates.Clinical report - Fever and antipyretic use in children. Recommendations for prevention and control of influenza in children, 2017-2018. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Use caution when giving cough and cold products to kids. ![]() About human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs).Management of croup in the emergency department: The role of multidose nebulized epinephrine.
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