International Ocean Noise Coalition

The International Ocean Noise Coalition (IONC) is a partnership of over 150 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from around the world. With representatives on every continent, IONC was created to address the need for a global approach to combating human-generated (or "anthropogenic") ocean noise. Sources of underwater noise include intense active mid-range and low frequency sonar, ship traffic, use of explosives, underwater construction, offshore oil drilling, and seismic testing for oil and other related activities. Anthropogenic noise levels in the marine environment are increasing at an alarming rate. Ocean noise levels in some areas have doubled every decade for the past 60 years. There is mounting concern that noise proliferation poses a significant threat to the survival of marine mammals, fish and other ocean wildlife. Marine animals use sound to navigate, find food, locate mates, avoid predators and communicate with each other. Flooding their world with intense sound interferes with these activities with serious consequences. A growing body of scientific research confirms anthropogenic noise can induce a range of adverse effects in marine mammals and other ocean creatures, from disturbance to injury and death. To find out more information about ocean noise, click on the links below.

• International Action on Anthropogenic Ocean Noise
• Commentary on Ocean Noise
• Scientific Papers on Ocean Noise
• IONC Letters, Reports, Publications

International Action on Anthropogenic Ocean Noise

• Report on the Work of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (July 2008)

• UN Resolution noting peer-reviewed scientific studies received from Member States, encouraging further studies and consideration of the impacts of ocean noise on marine living resources (March 2008)

• UN Resolution Encouraging Consideration of Impacts of Ocean Noise on Living Marine Resources (November 2005)

• Report of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission Annex K (June 2004)

• European Parliament Resolution on high-intensity active naval sonars (September 2004)

• Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS) (November 2004)

• World Conservation Union Resolution on Undersea Noise Pollution (November 2004)

Commentary on Ocean Noise

• The Impact of Ocean Noise Pollution on Marine Biodiversity By Dr. Linda Weilgart, Dalhousie University (March 2008)

• U.S. Navy Response Letter to Senator Warner (R-VA) regarding stranding incidents in the Bahamas

• California Coastal Commission Comments on the effects of Anthropogenic Noise on Marine Mammals

• Underwater Noise: Death Knell of our Oceans? By Dr. Linda Weilgart, Dalhousie University (September 2005)

• Ocean Noise: Adverse Impacts on Fish and Fisheries

Scientific Papers on Ocean Noise

• Balcomb, K. and Claridge, D.  A Mass Stranding of Cetaceans Caused by Naval Sonar in the Bahamas.  2001. Bahamas J. of Science 8 (2), 2-12

• Cox, T.M., et. al., Why beaked whales? Report of workshop to understand the impacts of anthropogenic sound. 2006. J. Cetacean Res. Manag. (7), 177 -187

• Dotinga, H. and Elferink, A.  Acoustic Pollution in the Oceans: The Search for Legal Standards. 2000. Ocean Development & International Law, 31, 151 182

• Engås, A. et. al.  Effects of seismic shooting on local abundance and catch rates of cod (Gadus morhua) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus). 1996. Can. J. Aquat. Sci. 53, 2238-2249

• Finneran, J. et. al.  Temporary threshold shift in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) exposed to mid-frequency tones. 2005.  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 118 (4), 2696-2705

• Frantzis, A. Does Acoustic Testing Strand Whales? 1998. Nature 392, 29

• Hildebrand, J.   Impacts of anthropogenic sound. In Marine mammal research: conservation beyond crisis.  Ed. by J.E. Reynolds III, W.F. Perrin, R.R. Reeves, S. Montgomery and T.J. Ragen. 2005.  Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 101-124

• Jepson, P. D., et. al.  Gas-bubble lesions in stranded cetaceans.  2003. Nature 425, 575-576

• MacKenzie, D. Seismic Surveys may kill Giant Squid.  2004.  New Scientist.com. 22 September

• Madsen, P., et. al.  Quantitative measures of air-gun pulses recorded on sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) using acoustic tags during controlled exposure experiments.  2006.  Acoust. Soc. Am.  120 (4), 2366-2379 

• McCauley, R.D., et. al.   High intensity anthropogenic sound damages fish ears.  2003. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 113 (1), 638-642

• McDonald, M. et. al.  Increases in deep ocean ambient noise in the Northeast Pacific west of San Nicolas Island, California.   2006.  Acoust. Soc. Am. 120 (2), 711-718

• Nieukirk, S., et. al. Low-frequency whale and seismic airgun sounds recorded in the mid-Atlantic Ocean.  2004. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 115(4), 1832-1843

• Pearson, W.H., J.R. Skalski and C.I. Malme .  Effects of sounds from a geophysical survey device on behavior of captive rockfish (Sebastes spp.).  1992.  Can. J. Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 49, 1343-1356

• Romano, T.A., et. al.  Anthropogenic sound and marine mammal health: measures of the nervous and immune systems before and after intense sound exposure. 2004  Can. J.  Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 61, 1124-1134

• Popper. A. N. 2003.  The effects of anthropogenic sounds on fishes.  Fisheries 28 (10), 24-31

• Popper. A. N. et. al.  2005.  Effects of exposure to seismic airgun use on hearing of three fish species.  J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 117(6), 3958-71

• Sara, G., et. al.   Effect of boat noise on the behaviour of bluefin tuna Thunnus tynnus in the Mediterranean Sea.  2007.  MEPS 331: 243-253

• Scholik, A.R. and H.Y. Yan.   Effects of boat engine noise on the auditory sensitivity of the fathead minnow, Pimephales promelas.  2002.  Environmental Biology of Fishes 63: 203-209

• Skalski, J.R., W.H. Pearson and C.I. Malme.  Effects of sounds from a geophysical survey device on catch-per-unit-effort in a hook-and-line fishery for rockfish (Sebastes spp.).  1992.  Can. J. Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 49, 1357-1365

• Taylor, B., et al,  2004.  A call for research to assess risk of acoustic impact on beaked whale populations,  IWC SC/56/E36

• Whitehead, H. and Weilgart, L.  Marine Mammal Science, The U.S. Navy, and Academic Freedom. 1995. , Scientific Correspondence, Marine Mammal Science, 11(2), 260-263

Regional Ocean Noise Issues

• IONC partner the Hawaii Ocean Noise Coalition was formed in Spring 2007 to unite Hawaiians with a shared interest in ocean noise.  Hawaii has a large U.S. naval presence and is the site of RIMPAC - the largest war game exercises in the world which are held biannually in Hawaiian waters.

• The US National Marine Fisheries Service Report on the 2004 Mass Stranding of Melon-Headed Whales in Hawai'i was released on April 27, 2006.  The Report stated that sonar was the "plausible, if not likely, contributing factor" in the causation of the incident in which 150-200 of the whales 'milled' in an unusual manner in the shallows of Hanalei Bay, Kaua'i island.

• The US National Marine Fisheries Service Report and US Navy Joint Interim Report Bahamas Marine Mammal Stranding Event of 15-16 March 2000 found the animals had experienced some sort of acoustic or impulse trauma that led to their stranding and subsequent death and that the acoustic trauma was most likely as a direct result of exposure to tactical mid-range frequency sonars aboard U.S. Navy ships that were in use prior to the strandings.

• Navy Planned Undersea Warfare Training Range to be located off the coast of North Carolina will be an active mid-frequency sonar training range. Covering over 500 square miles, the range will be used up to 161 times a year for up to six hours at a time. The purpose of the range is to train personnel on the use of active sonar to find, track and pursue submarines in the littoral (shallow) zone.

• US Navy SURTASS Low Frequency Active Sonar use is currently confined to an area of the western Pacific Ocean established through a District Court Preliminary Injunction (November 2002). The area of operation has been expanded twice through Mediation Conference, most recently in August 2008.  In November 2005, the Navy published its draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement detailing its proposal to double the number of SURTASS LFA sonar systems and to expand the area of operation to global oceanic basins including the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea.

IONC Letters, Reports, Publications

• IONC Booklet on Ocean Noise (2013)

• IONC Booklet on Ocean Noise (June 2008)

• IONC Position Statement on Ocean Noise to the Eighth meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (June 2007)

• IONC Position Statement on Ocean Noise to the Seventh meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (June 2006)

• Dr. Linda Weilgart Statement to the California Coastal Commission in support of Commissioner Wan's report on Anthropogenic Ocean Noise (November 2005)

• IONC Letter to UN Delegates (September 2005)

• Summary of Recent International Actions on Ocean Noise

• IONC Booklet on Ocean Noise (June 2005)

• IONC Petition to the United Nations and its Member States for Action on Underwater Noise Pollution (June 2005)

• IONC Position Statement on Ocean Noise to the Sixth meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (June 2005)

Contacts

(Europe, Middle East, Africa)
Sigrid Lüber
+41 44 780-66-88

North American Ocean Noise Coalition
Dr. Marsha Green
+1 610 670-7386

South American Ocean Noise Coalition
Elsa Cabrera
SAONC Website

Mexico/Central American Ocean Noise Coalition
Dr. Yolanda Alaniz
Laura Rojas Ortega

Pacific Islands Ocean Noise Coalition
Susan Millward
+1 202 337-2332

Listing of IONC Partners

Last Updated: January 2012