Ocean Conservation Research, Sound Science Serving the Sea, Lagunitas, CA
Fifty years ago Jacques Cousteau introduced the public to the submerged visual splendor of the sea in his book and film “The Silent World.” Unfortunately his title also introduced the public to the misconception that all of the oceans’ stunning and majestic beauty occurred in a world of somber silence. Now the ocean is being increasingly industrialized and the major byproduct of the growth is ocean noise. The public is still learning and coming to terms with the interference and damage that can be done to the natural ecosystem in the ocean by a proliferation of man-made noise.
Anything but Silent
We know now that the Sea is anything but silent. Given that sunlight does not penetrate more than a few hundred feet below the surface, and at any time more than half of the world oceans are under the dark veil of night, the ocean is actually an acoustic realm. Sound travels almost five times faster and much more efficiently underwater than it does in air.