Thursday 17 March 2011

marine creatures scared away by sonar.


 Beaked whales 'scared' by navy sonar By Ella Davies
Earth News reporter
A new study suggests that the whales are particularly sensitive to unusual sounds. Measuring their reactions to both simulated sonar calls and during actual naval exercises, researchers found the whales fell silent and moved away from the loud noises.The use of sonar for naval communication has been linked to beaked whales stranding in the past. Scientists from the University of St Andrews, Scotland have been working with marine experts from around the world to investigate how sonar affects beaked whales in the Bahamas. The scientists listened to the group of whales using these hydrophones - underwater microphones. During live sonar exercises by the US Navy, the whales stopped making their clicking and buzzing calls, which they are thought to use to navigate and communicate. "Results... indicate that the animals prematurely stop vocalisations during a deep foraging dive when exposed to sonar. They then ascend slowly and move away from the source, but they do resume foraging dives once they are farther away," said David Moretti, Principal Investigator for the US Navy. Using tags attached to the whales, the team was also able to track their movements with satellites. They found that the whales moved up to 16km away from the area during sonar tests and did not return for three days.
Read full article with pics here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9424000/9424166.stm

Maybe the noise in our oceans is why so few cryptids are seen. Between the noise of sonar, submarines , engines of ships, fishing boats, it must be a very noisy world out there in what was once a quiet environment. If there is anything out there it will stick to places without busy shipping lanes and away from any armed forces bases or ships. Which means of course   rarely seen. Maybe that is why none have been discovered yet? Just a thought.

Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Creatures of the Deep 
Book of Sea Monsters 
Field Guide to Lake Monsters, Sea Serpents, and Other Mystery Denizens of the Deep 
Shipwrecks and Sea Monsters of California's Central Coast 

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