Effects of Underwater Noise on Marine Mammals
Abstract
In the Mediterranean Sea marine life is threatened by habitat degradation due to human activities such as fisheries, ship traffic, pollution, and coast anthropization. Other than being effected by chemical pollution, which may contaminate the whole marine food web, cetaceans can also be effected by noise pollution. The underwater environment has its own acoustic peculiarities and cetaceans are extraordinarily well adapted to them. In these mammals, acoustic communication has acquired a privileged role compared with other communication channels. Marine mammals live in a medium which poorly transmits light but through which sound propagates very well, even over long distances. Marine mammals heavily rely on sound to communicate, to exploit and investigate the environment, to find prey and to avoid obstacles. The effect of anthropogenic noise on the marine environment is a new serious concern for scientists.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA418370
Entities
People
- Gianni Pavan
Organizations
- University of Pavia