Noise pollution could lead to health complications for both land and sea wildlife, making it an invisible danger. It could affect animal ability to communicate, find food, navigate, attract mates, and do other crucial functions.
Sound
Sound is usually measured in units known as decibels. The environment is full of varying sounds, such as thunderclaps (120 decibels) and rustling leaves (20 to 30 decibels).
When sounds become extremely loud (at least 85 decibels), this could harm the ears of a person. There are various sources of sound that go beyond such a threshold. These include subway trains (90 to 115 decibels), lawn mowers (90 decibels), and loud rock concerts (110 to 120 decibels).
Noise Pollution Affects Wildlife
Noise pollution refers to any disturbing or unwanted sound that affects the well-being and health of humans and other creatures. This phenomenon affects millions of individuals every day.
However, aside from affecting humans, noise pollution also impacts the well-being and health of wildlife. For one, studies have revealed that loud noises could make the dorsal vessels of caterpillars beat faster. Loud noise could also cause bluebirds to end up having fewer chicks.
In some cases, animals utilize sound to serve various functions, such as finding food, navigating, attracting mates, and avoiding predators. Noise pollution may make it difficult for them to accomplish such tasks, consequently affecting their survival abilities.
Growing noise also affects marine life. Sonar devices, oil drills, seismic tests, and ships have all made the marine environment chaotic and loud. Dolphins and whales are notably affected by noise pollution, as they depend on echolocation for communication, navigation, finding mates, and feeding. Too much noise could affect their ability to echolocate effectively.
In an underwater context, some of the loudest sources of noise are naval sonar devices. Similar to echolocation, sonar operates by sending sound pulses into the ocean's depths to bounce off a certain object and send an echo back to the ship, which notes the object's location. These sounds could go up to 235 decibels and move through hundreds of miles in the ocean.
This effectively interferes with the echolocation ability of whales. According to studies, this sonar could lead to mass whale strandings on beaches. This could also change endangered blue whales' feeding behaviors. With this, environmental groups have been urging the Navy to reduce or altogether stop using sonars for training in the military.
Aside from this, seismic surveys also make loud sound blasts in the ocean. Ships that are searching for deep-sea gas or oil deposits use equipment known as air guns. They send sound pulses to the seafloor. These sound blasts could lead to ear damage in marine animals and cause them severe injuries. Scientists think that such noises could also be contributing to altered whale behavior.
RELATED ARTICLE: Echolocation in Bats: New Discovery Reveals Flying Foxes' Sound, How It Evolved
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