Low-Frequency Sound and Marine Mammals Current Knowledge and Research Needs.
Abstract
By passage of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) of 1972, the United States acknowledged through public policy that marine mammals are a valuable national resource to be protected. Various human activities affect marine mammals and such activities are being discussed as part of the national debate during the reauthorization of the MMPA. A crucial element in the debate is the conflicting demands of protecting and conserving marine mammals versus allowing human activities that are considered important to the nation but that might affect marine mammals. In particular, the issue of whether and how low-frequency sound might affect marine mammals has escalated to national attention because of a proposal to repeatedly measure the speed of sound in the ocean over time to determine if the ocean and the global atmosphere are warming. The Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate (ATOC) project proposes to use low-frequency sound along long-distance undersea paths. -BKA
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1994
- Accession Number
- ADA289582
Entities
Organizations
- National Research Council