ACOUSTIC NOISE POLLUTION FROM MARINE INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES: EXPOSURE AND IMPACTS

Abstract

The improvements in marine technological developments propagate urbanization in the ocean environment. The construction or operational activities of marine structures such as energy plants, oil platforms, pipe-lines, sea-tunnel passages, or cable-stayed suspension bridges, and vessel traffic are sources of underwater noise pollution. How underwater sounds such as piling, pole drilling, or machinery noises may affect the marine live is mostly ignored in marine construction, and there is lack of information regarding underwater sound effects on marine live in the oceans. Recently, a remarkable interest is developing concerning underwater sound effects, especially in aquaculture facilities, with experimentation of musical stimuli or various noises caused by pumps or filter systems on behavior and stress responses of fish in culture conditions. With the increase of urbanization and progressive development of marine industries, more and more pressure from human-generated (anthropogenic) underwater sound pollution may threaten marine mammals, fish species and invertebrates from underwater noises that in terms might be called as “Underwater Noise Pollution”. The future of marine life and that of human being, and the dramatic increase of underwater sound pollution is a new debate that needs to be controlled in a sustainable way with environment-sound approaches. Therefore the potential effects of various sound sources derived from marine industrial activities have been reviewed in this study.