Still waters: U.S. to crack down on ocean noise that harms fish | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-environment-noise-idUSKCN10A0CN
The ocean has gotten noisier for decades, with man-made racket from oil drilling, shipping and construction linked to signs of stress in marine life that include beached whales and baby crabs with scrambled navigational signals.
The United States aims to change that as a federal agency prepares a plan that could force reductions in noise-making activities, including oil exploration, dredging and shipping off the nation’s coast.
Réactions balancées (hum !)…
The NOAA proposal has critics on the left and right.
Michael Jasny, a marine noise expert at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council, said NOAA’s effort was a step forward from its current tactic of muffling noisy machinery.
“Current efforts are like trying to control air pollution by putting a fence around a smokestack,” he said.
The draft strategy has raised concern in the oil industry.
Andy Radford, a senior policy adviser for the American Petroleum Institute, said there was no science to support the idea of harm from the cumulative effects of underwater noise.
“We think it (is) unrealistic to try to return the seas to their prehuman condition,” he said.