Ship Noise and its Effect on Killer Whales

In April, 2014 I attended the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in Seattle. One of the presentations  which surprized me showed  the risk to the Southern resident Killer Whale populations from Noise Imapcts in the Salish Sra under Commercial shipping growth Scenarios. Following is a reference to Beam Reach which carries a summary presentation of this. — Scott Veirs, Beam Reach Marine Science & Sustainability; Val Veirs, Colorado College; Jason Wood, Sea Mammal Research Unit

soundimpacticonEmazing talk on fossil fuel ship noise & killer whales

This afternoon I’m giving a talk at the 2014 Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in which I present our estimates of sound pressure levels from commercial ships in Haro Strait, the core of the summertime critical habitat for the Southern Resident killer whales. I also take a first look at noise impacts of the current tanker and bulk carrier fleets and ask how those impacts may change if a suite of proposed fossil fuel export facilities are added to the Salish Sea.

– See more at: http://www.beamreach.org/2014/04/30/emaze-talk-fossil-fuel-ship-noise-killer-whales