The Invisible, Yet Loud Killer!
Troy, Michigan
2016, Junior, Creative Writing
You are walking down the beach shoreline at dawn, with the waves calming you. Suddenly, you come upon a horrifying sight. A whale is stranded, and it doesn’t seem to be breathing. Who caused this? Why did this happen? Aliens? I think not. The reality is that humans did. Humans caused the death of this marine animal. The ocean is the heart of the Earth, and the animals that reside in the ocean are the heartbeat of the earth. Without these marine animals, our Earth won’t be nearly as diverse or alive as it could be. Then why kill them with sound, something that they use every day? Every year, marine biologists find hundreds of marine mammals stranded, and many times, dead. Humans are producing too much noise in the ocean, and causing stranding and death of many marine mammals, and slowly causing the collapse of the food chain.
Underwater noise pollution is the acute human-created sound that is released in the ocean. It can come in the form of sonar tests, underwater missiles, large cargo ships, jet skis, oil rigs, and seismic surveys used to find oil underwater. The sound that is discharged into the ocean reaches to a minimum of 230 decibels (Loverock), and the maximum of 300 decibels (Langman). Humans lose their hearing at 120 decibels (Langman). This shows how much noise is released into the ocean by humans. To add on, sound travels faster underwater, then in the air. It can also travel approximately 1,800 miles from the source of the sound (“Hard of Hearing”).
The San Diego University, has conducted many studies regarding the noise pollution in the ocean, and the university states, “Anthropogenic noise in the ocean has increased substantially in recent decades, the motorized vessels produce what is likely the most common form of underwater noise pollution. Noise has the potential to induce physiological stress in marine fishes, which may have negative ecological consequences” (“Studies Conducted…..Marine Fish). This defines what sound pollution is. Many marine mammals use echolocation to locate and prey on their food. When there is other sound interfering with the sound waves that travel from them, the sound needed to locate their food doesn’t get back to the cetaceans’ melon, the fatty organ that processes the sound and signals the marine mammal to go toward its’ prey. Noise pollution deactivates the cetaceans’ ability to use their only way to find prey, echolocation. This sums up all the basic crimes of sound pollution. Now let’s move onto some major crimes this pollution has committed, crimes that humans and noise were partners in crime in.
Noise produced by humans has caused the stranding of many cetaceans and causing them to slowly die, therefore causing the population to decrease. To begin, many experts have said that noise pollution is the cause of the stranding of whales and dolphins. More precisely, Mark Simmons, a whale and dolphin trainer stated, “There is new evidence linking loud underwater noise with some major strandings of marine mammals, especially deep diving beaked whales” (“Hard of Hearing”). This supports my claim because Mark Simmons explains that noise pollution causes the stranding of many marine animals. An example of a mass stranding took place in March 16, 2000, at San Juan Island (“Noise Pollution”). A total of sixteen beaked whales were stranded, and eight whales died (“Noise Pollution”). Later, when the autopsy was performed, they found that the whales had muscle hemorrhaging, caused by too much noise. They were also found to have ruptured eardrums. Marine biologists believe sonar tests that the Navy had tested, which produce an immense amount of noise, was the culprit behind the stranding at Juan Island. Porpoises, another marine mammal species were also found dead. The San Juan Islander, the local news in San Juan Island, stated in their press release that the Navy may be the cause of this disaster. To be precise, their exact words were, “More than a dozen harbor porpoises were found dead on the beach near San Juan Islands soon after the Navy tested active sonar in the Haro Strait. Videotape shows a pod of orca whales in the foreground behaving erratically as the USS Shoup, a U.S. Navy vessel, emits loud sonar blasts. Recent tests on one of the harbor porpoises revealed injuries consistent with acoustic trauma” (“Noise Pollution”). Clearly, humans were the cause of the death of those 8 beaked whales, and those porpoises. This proves that too much sound and racket in the ocean can cause the strandings of many marine mammals.
Moving on, noise pollution has caused ruptured eardrums among many sea mammals. Ruptured eardrums may cause stranding, navigation problems, hearing loss, change in behavior, and possibly death. To specify, navigation problems lead to dolphins and whales to dive deeper than they should, causing them to go to the part of the ocean where they have many predators. Also, their everyday food and prey will not be there. Hearing loss may interfere with their use of echolocation, their only way to find their prey. Cetaceans do not have good eyesight, and the murky water makes it even harder for them to look for and find prey, therefore, they will have no food, and may possibly die of starvation. As this is not bad enough, the U.S. Navy wants to test explosives and sonar in the ocean between 2014-2019 (Fobs). This can kill hundreds, possibly thousands of marine animals. An estimated number of 138,500 whales and dolphins were injured and killed by oil blasts, so imagine how many animals would get affected of the noise is consistent for five years. This proves my claim that noise can cause ruptured eardrums, which results in hearing loss, navigation problems, and the loss of the use of echolocation.
Finally, noise pollution can indirectly affect humans, even though we are the cause of the noise underwater. Noise pollution can cause the collapse of the food chain. When whales and dolphins die, then their prey will overpopulate and eat food that is commonly eaten by humans like shrimp and crabs. Consequently, sharks will not have any food, so they will die of starvation, causing the food chain to collapse even more. Nathan Merchant, a PhD student says, “Noise also affects other sea creatures such as crabs and fish which could have a knock-on effect for the rest of the food chain and the fishing industry” (“Reducing Underwater…. Marine Wildlife”). This proves my claim that humans can also get affected by noise pollution, even if we produce it.
If we keep producing sound like what we are currently producing, then the oceanic ecosystem will deteriorate, and soon the biodiversity of our earth will decline. So what can we do prevent this? One way to stop the effectiveness of the noise, is to use bubble curtains. Bubble curtains are like big bubbles filled with air that float on water. When the sound waves hit the curtain at any speed, high or low, the impact of the sound will immediately be compressed by the air bubble. This way, the job the humans need to get done will get done and the sound will not be intense enough to harm the sea creatures that call the ocean their home. Although this solution may not completely stop the noise, it will decrease its’ impact on marine mammals. Another method to stop the amount of sound in the ocean is to limit the Navy. Many mass strandings have happened because of the Navy testing sonar and explosives. If the Navy has limits, then the amount of sound produced will also be limited. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has stated, “Regulation require the Navy to implement measures designed to protect and minimize effects to marine mammals” (“Proper Guidelines…..Effects of Sonar”). This is also a good way to limit the noise caused by the Navy. The final strategy to try to help decrease the noise is to use sonar substitutes, because sonar has caused a lot of noise underwater. One example of a sonar substitute is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). This substitute does the same work as sonar does, except it doesn’t produce nearly as much sound that is usually produced by sonar. These solutions are remedies for the pollution that has been going on for the past couple of decades. If these ideas are put to action, then the amount of marine mammal deaths, strandings, and decibels of sound produce will decrease significantly.
In conclusion, noise pollution is a big problem that we created and are not working toward to stop. It is killing dozens of marine animals a day, increasing by the minute. It is not only affecting marine life, but it is also indirectly affecting humans. If we don’t stop this problem, many cetacean species will go extinct, and our Earth will slowly start to break down. One by one, species by species. We must take a stand, and save the earth from noise pollution, the invisible killer of marine mammals!
Reflection
To be frank, I had no clue what sound pollution was, before this essay. I was like a whale in a sea of sharks. One thing really intrigued me about this topic. Why were all the topics known to the majority of the student body except this one? That is why I began my journey through raising awareness against noise pollution. Through weeks of hard work and researching about the topic prior to selecting my final topic, I found that this pollution is killing off many species. It was like a serial killer, nobody notices them until they strike. I was perplexed as to how this was happening without humans’ knowledge. Later, multiple pieces of evidence proved something I would have never imagined, humans were causing noise pollution. Although humans were aware of what was happening to our Earth and its species, we put in no effort to try to stop what was going on. I wanted to change this. That is why I chose this topic, no matter how much effort, time and perspiration it took. During the process of writing this essay, I included words of awareness in all of my conversations. Now many people in my family and friends are aware of what is happening, and they are helping out. This is what I wanted, and I have achieved. I hope you raise awareness too, and my essay has persuaded you to do so also.