Wildlife Preservation

Until now, there have been no organized efforts to quantify day-to-day ocean noise levels and their effects on marine mammals. But with new bouys being used at the Gerry E. Studds Stellwagon Bank National Marine Sanctuary, that is about to change.

Several years ago shipping lanes into the city of Boston were moved to reduce the amount of traffic within the marine sanctuary in an effort to protect the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale, a slow moving surface feeding whale which forages in the area during spring and fall migrations.

The next step in the protection of this whale is to look at the effects of ocean noise within this critical feeding area. Humpback whales, fin whales, minke whales and several species of dolphin, porpoise and seal also frequent Stellwagon Banks. So do fishermen, both commercial and sport, and whale watch boats. When added to the shipping traffic that’s a lot of activity.

Marine mammals are dependent on sound for many things, including predator avoidance, navigation and communication. Ship traffic noise may interfere with those daily activities, but how much noise and what types of noise are a problem is unknown. The buoys are being used to find some of those answers. And that help guide efforts to effectively protect marine mammals from too much ocean noise. We all know how important a little peace and quiet can be.