CMS Family Guidelines on Environmental Impact Assessments for marine noise-generating activities
Prideaux, G. (2016). CMS Family Guidelines on Environmental Impact Assessments for marine noise-generating activities. Document 6.2.7.b Rev.1. Convention on Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS): Bonn. ISBN 978-0-646-96011-1. 92 pp.
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| Abstract |
The sea is the interconnected system of all the Earth's oceanic waters, including the five named ‘oceans’ - the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Southern and Arctic Oceans - a connected body of salty water that covers over 70 percent of the Earth's surface. This vast environment is home to a broader spectrum of higher animal taxa than exists on land. Many marine species have yet to be discovered and the number known to science is expanding annually. The sea also provides people with substantial supplies of food, mainly fish, shellfish and seaweed, in addition to marine resource extraction. It is a shared resource for us all. Levels of anthropogenic marine noise have doubled in some areas of the world, every decade, for the past 60 years. When considered in addition to the number other anthropogenic threats in the marine environment, noise can be a life-threatening trend for many marine species. Marine wildlife rely on sound for vital life functions, including communication, prey and predator detection, orientation and for sensing surroundings. While the ocean is certainly a sound-filled environment and many natural (or biological) sounds are very loud, wildlife is not adapted to anthropogenic noise. Animals exposed to elevated or prolonged anthropogenic noise can suffer direct injury and temporary or permanent auditory threshold shifts. Noise can mask important natural sounds, such as the call of a mate, the sound made by prey or a predator. These impacts are experienced by a wide range of species including fish, crustaceans and cephalopods, pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walrus), sirenians (dugong and manatee), sea turtles, the polar bear, marine otters and cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises). |
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