LET'S PROTECT MARINE ECOSYSTEMSby Prince Foley | 18-12-2021 23:49 |
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Seismic testing involves blasting the seafloor with high-powered air guns every 10 seconds and measuring the echoes with long tubes to map offshore oil and gas reserves. These blasts disturb, injure and kill marine wildlife. In marine mammals, the blasts which reach more than 250 decibels and be heard for hundred miles can cause hearing loss, disturb essential behaviors like feeding and breeding, and mask communications between individual marine wildlife. The blasts also reduce catch rates of commercial fish. Expanding offshore drilling creates a higher risk for oil spills, more polluted beaches and waters, more industrial equipment, and fewer pristine places for wildlife and people. So there is no good reason to be subjecting ocean life to these deadly seismic blasts. The types of impacts marine mammals may endure include temporary and permanent hearing loss, abandonment of habitat, disruption of mating and feeding, beach strandings, and even death. Seismic air guns could devastate marine life, harming fisheries and coastal economies along the coastlines. The Oceans are very important to our daily livelihood. The air we breathe: The ocean produces over half of the world¡¯s oxygen and absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere. Climate regulation: Covering 70 percent of the Earth¡¯s surface, the ocean transports heat from the equator to the poles, regulating our climate and weather patterns. Marine animals rely on sound to acoustically sense their surroundings, communicate, locate food, and protect themselves underwater. ¡¦ It is clear that producing and hearing sound is vital to marine mammal survival. Unwanted sound, or noise, can have a large impact on the marine environment, because noise can blanket a very large area, potentially preventing fish and other marine animals from hearing their prey or predators, finding their way, or connecting with mates, group members, or their young. If you have any heart, you would really and truly not do this to our marine life and our oceans. References Halpern, B. S. et al. Spatial and temporal changes in cumulative human impacts on the world¡¯s ocean. Nature Communications 6, 7615, (2015) |
