Scientists Call for Quieter Ships to Protect Whales

29 June 2011

The main room of the Whaling Museum in Nantucket contains a whaleboat and a skeleton of a sperm whale.

BARBARA KLEIN: I’m Barbara Klein.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Our subject today is whales. We discuss a report on the effect of noise from ships on the behavior of whales. And, we visit a whaling museum on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN: Passenger ships, trade ships, and fishing boats are a normal part of life on the open sea. However, all their activity creates a great deal of noise underwater. Scientists from the United States and Canada recently reported their observations that the ocean is getting noisier.

(SOUND)

STEVE EMBER: That is sound recorded with equipment placed underwater near the busy shipping lanes off Vancouver Island in Canada. Scientists at the University of Victoria have studied the recordings. They say engine noise is continuous during the day, and a little less intense at night.

Scientists say it is likely that whales must call out more loudly to be heard over this noise. The noise could make it more difficult for orca whales to find food. The orcas find fish by producing clicking sounds and other noises. Loud engine noise could be interfering with their efforts.

BARBARA KLEIN: Michael Jasny is a policy expert for the Natural Resources Defense Council. He says the rise of underwater noise is restricting the ability of whales to communicate.