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Noisier oceans threaten whales and dolphins, experts warn at UN gathering
UN News Centre ^ | December 3, 2008 | United Nations

Posted on 12/03/2008 9:57:55 AM PST by Sparko

Noisier oceans threaten whales and dolphins, experts warn at UN gathering

3 December 2008

Increased noises generated by larger numbers of ships, seismic surveys and use of new military sonars are imperiling creatures such as whales and dolphins, who use sound to communicate and find food, experts said today at a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) gathering in Rome.

An alliance of wildlife groups at the 9th meeting of the Convention on Migratory Species – an intergovernmental treaty concluded under UNEP’s aegis – that seeks to conserve wildlife and habitats on a global scale issued the warning, urging governments and the private sector to use quieter ship engines.

They also called for tightened laws on using seismic surveys to explore for gas and oil, as well as less intrusive sonar technologies by militaries.

“Underwater, man-made noise is already triggering a kind of acoustic fog and a cacophony of sound in many parts of the world seas and oceans,” said Mark Simmonds, Science Director of the Whale and Conservation Society, who is attending the UNEP conference.

Compounding the problem is the rising acidity levels in the seas and oceans, which could reach a point in the coming decades where noise generated by vessels, surveys and others will travel 70 per cent further than they do currently.

The European Community and its Member States have submitted a draft resolution on curbing marine noise to the UNEP conference.



TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: environment; un
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1 posted on 12/03/2008 9:57:55 AM PST by Sparko
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To: Sparko

Now they’ll figure out a way to tax us over it.


2 posted on 12/03/2008 9:59:08 AM PST by Luke21
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To: Sparko
Guess it's back to sailboats. The only thing missing is global warming, but I am sure it will be added as a cause.



3 posted on 12/03/2008 10:00:23 AM PST by Sparko
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To: Sparko

That’s it, ban ships and shipping.


4 posted on 12/03/2008 10:00:35 AM PST by headstamp 2 (Been here before)
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To: Luke21

And rightly so.


5 posted on 12/03/2008 10:00:41 AM PST by gangsigninterpreter (broads only:(jimheatherheatherjennifer@yahoo.com))
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To: Sparko

Ban offshore wind farms. Those noisy windmills might keep the fish awake at night.

6 posted on 12/03/2008 10:03:26 AM PST by smokingfrog (If it's to be a bloodbath, let it be now. Appeasement is not the answer. - Ronald Reagan)
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To: headstamp 2

This guy in his coracle could be in deep trouble with those UN experts if he ever took to the briny seas. Look at all the waves he’s causing.

http://lifesci.rutgers.edu/~mcguire/hobbies/coracle2.JPG


7 posted on 12/03/2008 10:06:11 AM PST by Sparko
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To: Sparko

Any mention of the noise from terrorists firing at civilians, bombs going off on trains, etc.?


8 posted on 12/03/2008 10:07:04 AM PST by Carley (Prayers for Sgt. Eddie Ryan)
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To: Sparko

So...is anyone doing anything about how much noise the UN makes that makes us sick? Which is mostly all the noise they make...


9 posted on 12/03/2008 10:07:11 AM PST by gdaddy (I do have a birth certificate.)
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To: Sparko
I wonder how these Luddite's and greenie-weenies got to Rome. They would get more respect if they would only practice what they preach. Live in grass huts, wear leafs, eat dirt, refuse medicine, not practice sanitation and travel only by foot and sail.
10 posted on 12/03/2008 10:08:31 AM PST by fella (.He that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough." Pv.28:19')
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To: fella

I thought only Barack’s grandmother lived in a hut?

Kidding aside, you are correct. They travel and live in splendor, telling others how to behave and live - but not as they behave and live.


11 posted on 12/03/2008 10:11:28 AM PST by Sparko
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To: Sparko

And it turns out that Climate change (AlGor’s global warming) is also culprit:

see

http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=383&sid=1535680

AP Story, see 5th paragraph down.


12 posted on 12/03/2008 10:16:55 AM PST by Sparko
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To: Sparko

Like the volume of carbon in the atmosphere....Has anyone looked at how large the ocean is and to what extent humans have infiltrated it?

If there were 500 million sonar inducing ships and siesmic exploration vehicles exploring the ocean at the same time all over the world, it would hardly be a concentration to radically affect ocean wildlife.

I agree it may be a delicate habitat and ares of our vast oceans have been over-fished by commercial endeavors. But what truly is the impact world wide? These creatures migrate.


13 posted on 12/03/2008 10:21:07 AM PST by Tenacious 1 (Democrats are for Change - Let's run through a mine field at night wearing clown shoes!)
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To: Sparko

“Guess it’s back to sailboats.”

Maybe not, but we will probably have to post shipping lanes as noise hazardous areas. Then we will have to train a few dolphins to ensure that any whales and dolphins entering these areas have the appropriate hearing protection.


14 posted on 12/03/2008 10:39:06 AM PST by Peter Horry (We shouldn't accept things just because somebody says so .... Dixie Lee Ray)
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To: Peter Horry
And the trainers themselves will have to have hearing protection as well.



15 posted on 12/03/2008 10:57:58 AM PST by Sparko
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To: Sparko

It is has been the excuse used to shut down exploration for oil.

No to drilling {Alaska, Offshore}
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2140752/posts

In particular, there is insufficient analysis of the impact of drilling-associated noise on bowhead whales’ migration routes — Shell’s exploration plan envisages the use of two drilling vessels and two associated icebreakers for the Beaufort Sea drilling, Nelson said. “The multi-sale EIS discusses, in a general sense, the impact of noise on bowhead whales, citing a number of studies that have been conducted on the topic,” Nelson said. “However, that document contains no studies that analyze the effects of noise from a project with two drillships and two icebreakers. … Moreover, studies cited in the multisale EIS use varying methodologies and come to inconclusive results.”

The environmental assessment for Shell’s exploration plan “gives only a brief description of the level of noise the individual drillships in Shell’s proposal could make, but does not examine the combined effect of all vessels operating simultaneously,” Nelson said. And there is no evidence that a National Marine Fisheries Services biological opinion cited by MMS “relies on studies involving two drillships and two icebreakers,” she said.

The court majority opinion also says that MMS has recognized that even a single operating drillship can deflect migrating bowhead whales.


16 posted on 12/03/2008 11:01:30 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: Sparko; enough_idiocy; Desdemona; rdl6989; Little Bill; IrishCatholic; Normandy; Delacon; ...

 




Beam me to Planet Gore !

17 posted on 12/03/2008 11:06:33 AM PST by steelyourfaith
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To: thackney

Correct, the second paragraph strongly hints to that:

“They also called for tightened laws on using seismic surveys to explore for gas and oil, as well as less intrusive sonar technologies by militaries.”

It is the agenda for some that humans take a back seat to animal life.


18 posted on 12/03/2008 11:08:18 AM PST by Sparko
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To: Sparko
Whats next, reflection of earths water is causing the sun to be hotter
because of greenhouse gasses?
19 posted on 12/03/2008 11:11:09 AM PST by MaxMax (I'll welcome death when God calls me. Until then, the fight is on)
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To: Sparko

The funny part is in Alaska, the court ruling stopped the exploration so that it wasn’t so hard for the native to kill the whales.


20 posted on 12/03/2008 11:13:52 AM PST by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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