Quiet(er) Marine Protected Areas Needed for Marine Mammals — Soon
The endangered Southern Resident Orca need more quiet to aid their recovery, and they are not alone. A new study shows the urgency to protect endangered Southern Resident Orca and other marine mammals from disruptive noise pollution, by identifying and establishing key protection zones where the whales live, socialize, and hunt. The study shows how to include noise pollution in protection planning for all marine mammals, focusing primarily on areas that are not already noisy (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X1530028X). At the same time, the authors of the study do not advocate “ignoring acoustically degraded sites” — such as Haro Strait where a Whale Protection Zone would help with habitat restoration. And time is short. The Southern Resident Orca habitat could get much nosier, with dozens of new coal ports, oil terminals, and liquefied natural gas plants proposed for the Washington and BC coasts — which means a lot more shipping — as well as the recent increases in commercial whale watching. See also an article in the Vancouver Sun: