Noise from ships hits marine life

Hyderabad: Ship movement has doubled every 10 years since 1950 and this is impacting marine life, according to the Maritime Research Centre (MRC), Pune.

The rise in the number of ships is related to the increased international trade, and the MCR study explores its implications on the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. The study explores how the noise level in the seas has increased from 180 to nearly 210 decibel (db).

Environmentalists are concerned about other startling facts reported in the study regarding increase in the deaths of marine mammals along the coastline and stranding of whales along the west coast because of ship movements.

Study lead author Arnab Das said, “Ship noises are in low frequency but they can travel far because it does not get weak under water. It is important to have regulatory provisions though the economic viability of shipping routes will make it difficult. But we cannot address the management of big whale populations without doing it.”

Marine animals use different frequency bands for communication, hunting, rearing and fleeing from predators which are all affected by the increased noise. The study states that when the shipping noise frequency is equivalent to the communication signal of the animals, it can cause internal damage such as bleeding and even haemorrhage. In 2017, ships were found to trade nearly 27,500 million tonnes of products including dry cargo and petroleum products.