While it is easier to evaluate specific impacts of a stimulus on specific animals, we know that nature is not just a catalog of individual species; rather it is a fabric of interdependent organisms living in interconnected physical habitats. This point is punctuated in a recent paper on the Proceedings of the Royal Society that [...]
Read More» Posted by admin | 0 commentsA few weeks back we asked you all to sign on to a petition addressed to NOAA chief Dr. Jane Lubchenko expressing concerns about the rampant expansion of Arctic oil and gas exploration and production (E&P). Thanks to your participation and the outreach efforts of World Wildlife Fund we pulled in over 8500 signatures! While [...]
Read More» Posted by admin | 0 commentsIf you have been anywhere within earshot of the media recently you may have noticed that the Oilmen are on a bit of a rampage. Any sustainable energy program, environmental regulation, or legal challenge that does not promote their agenda is met with apoplectic derision as a “job killer” or worse. One of the drivers [...]
Read More» Posted by admin | 1 commentsI’ve just finished reviewing a 1600 page “Draft Environmental Impact Statement” (DEIS) issued for public comments about the five year plan for oil and gas exploration in the Arctic. The objective of the “draft” is to provide US citizens the opportunity to chime in on how – and if – we want the US Arctic [...]
Read More» Posted by mstocker | 0 commentsLast week we attended an Acoustic Society conference in San Diego. This time I didn’t deliver a paper so it was mostly a reconnaissance trip – both to catch up with colleagues and to introduce Gwynn, our Digital Assets Manager to the field. It is not a surprise that many of the bioacoustic papers that [...]
Read More» Posted by mstocker | 0 commentsOne of the hot topics at the recent International Quiet Ocean Experiment in Paris was the noise impacts of offshore wind farms. It seems that while the American Oilmen are furiously trying to carve up the Arctic for fossil fuel, the Europeans are rapidly developing wind power. Much of this is happening in the North [...]
Read More» Posted by mstocker | 2 commentsIt has been thoroughly established that harvesting power from fossil fuel is extremely expensive. Global warming and oil spills notwithstanding, from an ocean noise perspective the hydrocarbon industry is responsible for the lions share of marine noise pollution. Most of the known noise comes from seismic airgun surveys – air-driven explosive impulses that penetrate the [...]
Read More» Posted by mstocker | 0 commentsSpending the last two days in the company of geophysicists, marine mammologists, petroleum engineers and policy makers was much less grueling than I had anticipated. But the degree of collegiality was uncharacteristic of these affairs – to a point of being downright pleasant. The purpose of the meeting was to craft a “Mitigations Practices” document [...]
Read More» Posted by mstocker | 1 commentsLast Thursday was the final public hearing on the 5 year Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing program. While this was the last chance to stand up in public to express yourself about the program, it is not the last chance to comment, as Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has opened up the public comment period to [...]
Read More» Posted by mstocker | 0 commentsMany fish grind their “pharyngeal teeth” located on their throats to make sounds, which is amplified by resonance of their air bladder.
Ocean Noise Blog
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National Ocean Policy released today for public review!
Today the National Ocean Council released their Draft Implementation Plan for a National Ocean Policy. This is fabulous news because the US has never had a comprehensive ocean management plan, we have just been tangled in a web of agencies each “managing” their own areas of concern – regional fisheries councils, Department of Transportation, Minerals [...]
Read More» Posted by mstocker | 1 comments