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https://theconversation.com/whale-watching-guidelines-dont-include-boat-noise-its-time-they-did-199977>
"Imagine … eco-tourists enjoying views of undisturbed whales and dolphins,
watching them doing what comes naturally.
This is ultimately what we all wish to see when spending time in nature
watching animals. We can achieve this by using quieter boats.
But why do we need quieter boats? Whales and dolphins primarily use hearing to
sense their surroundings (rather than sight like humans do). Sound travels
almost five times faster underwater than it does in the air, so it’s an
important sense for whales. They rely on sounds to communicate, navigate, feed
and detect predators.
Our new research confirms noise from a boat watching whales at a distance of
300 metres can still disturb them. And watching whales involves a lot of boats
and millions of tourists each year. This multi-billion-dollar industry is
active in waters off more than 100 countries. The Australian whale-watching
industry is one of the biggest in the world.
Because the industry actively seeks out whales and dolphins, using quieter
boats should be a priority. Yet current whale-watching guidelines, including
Australia’s, do not include noise levels. They should.
As the whale-watching season begins in Australia for humpback whales and
southern right whales, we offer tips here for individual operators to reduce
noise from their boats."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
