The makers of this animated short are actively engaged in ocean conservation, and we are fortunate to have Jackie Hildering,  Marine Educations and Research Society as a consultant on this film.  We continue to work together on educational programs to help raise awareness for the impact of noise on marine mammals.

The Government of Canada links underwater noise to a wide range of impacts on marine species including:

• Disrupting their normal behaviour,

• change or loss of their habitat,

• masking sounds, which affect marine animals’ ability to communicate,

• changes in their physiology, behaviour and/or stress levels, and

• permanent injury or even death.

Fisheries and Oceans are expecting to launch their Ocean Noise Strategy for Canada in 2023, which will inform a whole-of-government approach to addressing underwater noise in our oceans. It’s crucial to explore creative communication methods to gain public understanding and engagement of this strategy. 

Read more here >

The European Commission has contributed to the discussions on setting these threshold values by facilitating discussions between Member State experts in the MSFD Technical group on underwater noise, which is chaired by representatives from EU countries. The technical group will now also work on recommendations on how to use these values. 

Zero pollution and Biodiversity: First ever EU-wide limits for underwater noise

"Being able to produce and detect sound in an environment where light penetrates only a few hundred metres is crucial for animals to communicate, feed, avoid predators and navigate vast underwater habitats. Large whales generate low frequency communication calls that can travel thousands of kilometres. While the snapping shrimp, native to the western Atlantic, can produce a loud snapping sound capable of stunning and killing its prey. " 

'Underwater noise is a threat to marine life' by Graeme Shannon, Lecturer in Zoology, Bangor University

The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity 

Review of the Impacts of Anthropogenic Underwater Noise on Marine Biodiversity and Approaches to Manage and Mitigate them 

How Much Noise is Too Much for Southern Resident Killer Whales in the Salish Sea? The Case for a Carrying Capacity Study 

What are the impacts on a species that travels freely across the border if different mitigation measures are adopted on either side? 

Noise from human activities is harming ocean invertebrates and ecosystems, new research shows.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230317145035.htm

"Loud noises can scare cetaceans into diving quickly, putting them at risk of exhaustion and decompression sickness"

Underwater noise pollution is risking the lives of whales and dolphins

By James Ashworth , Natural History Museum

The NOAA Ocean Noise Strategy (the ‘Strategy’) Roadmap 

Marine Education and Research society webinar (see below recorded video) is dedicated to sharing how marine mammals rely on sound, and the impacts of ocean noise. With knowledge from the expertise of those who listen and learn from whale acoustics.

- Dr. Harald Yurk - Bioacoustician / Biophysical Scientist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada

- Dr. Valeria Vergara- Co-director of Raincoast Conservation Foundation's Cetacean Conservation Research Program

- Helena Symonds - Co-founder of OrcaLab

- Ben Hendricks of SoundSpace Analytics.

The following text and resource links are from Marine Education and Research Society oceanvoices.ca

OrcaLab Listen to Whales

The British Columbian Hydrophone Network, also known as “Whale Sound”, is a collaboration of First Nations and non-governmental agencies to build, maintain, and contribute to a shared, coast-wide acoustic information system. Collecting acoustic and visual data on whale activity using consistent standards and protocols, via professionally maintained and consistently calibrated equipment, will enable (1) the quantification of how the ocean soundscape is changing; and (2) a comparison of vessel traffic impact on whales in areas that differ environmentally and acoustically.

The high-quality, comparable ocean acoustic datasets gathered by Network members will be archived using a centralised database and will be available for scientific, stewardship, and/or educational purposes.

NoiseTracker is a publicly available website and map-based noise visualization tool that brings  together the efforts of those measuring noise off the coast of British Columbia. NoiseTracker will allow for:

• Identification of acoustic disturbance hotspots—places where high levels of noise and high biological productivity coincide.

• Evaluation of the effectiveness of noise mitigation measures by documenting changes in noise levels over time.

• Development and implementation of additional measures to reduce ocean noise.