Marine soundscape research—Are we making progress?

Abstract

Marine soundscape research includes, inter alia, ambient noise, marine animal bioacoustics, anthropogenic noise, sound propagation, and the effects of underwater noise. This research field is rapidly growing—in terms of its community, funding, and publications. Despite this almost exponential increase in activity, it might seem we are making too-slow progress, or in fact, running in circles. At every conference, we are hungry for new data, new research outputs. We aspire to see our research outputs translated into management outcomes and environmental impacts. But are we as a community making progress at a reasonable rate? Let us step aside from this race. Having worked with >60 peers on three ASA Press/Springer Verlag books on animal bioacoustics has given me the luxury to rejoice in the achievements we have made. It has, in fact, been a race to stay up-to-date with the literature, and regular, significant advancements have repeatedly required stepping back, reworking, updating, and editing. Join me in revisiting just some of the major developments from the last 20 years.