The soundscape of the Anthropocene ocean

Carlos M. Duarte, Lucille Chapuis, Shaun P. Collin, Daniel P. Costa, Reny P. Devassy, Victor M. Eguiluz, Christine Erbe, Timothy A.C. Gordon, Benjamin S. Halpern, Harry R. Harding, Michelle N. Havlik, Mark Meekan, Nathan D. Merchant, Jennifer L. Miksis-Olds, Miles Parsons, Milica Predragovic, Andrew N. Radford, Craig A. Radford, Stephen D. Simpson, Hans SlabbekoornErica Staaterman, Ilse C. Van Opzeeland, Jana Winderen, Xiangliang Zhang, Francis Juanes

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    643 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Oceans have become substantially noisier since the Industrial Revolution. Shipping, resource exploration, and infrastructure development have increased the anthrophony (sounds generated by human activities), whereas the biophony (sounds of biological origin) has been reduced by hunting, fishing, and habitat degradation. Climate change is affecting geophony (abiotic, natural sounds). Existing evidence shows that anthrophony affects marine animals at multiple levels, including their behavior, physiology, and, in extreme cases, survival. This should prompt management actions to deploy existing solutions to reduce noise levels in the ocean, thereby allowing marine animals to reestablish their use of ocean sound as a central ecological trait in a healthy ocean.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article numbereaba4658
    Number of pages11
    JournalScience
    Volume371
    Issue number6529
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 5 Feb 2021

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