Monitoring the Arctic acoustic environments with the International Quiet Ocean Experiment

Abstract

The northern high-latitude regions, including the Arctic Ocean, are becoming increasingly important as a result of global warming and their growing economic and political interests. Sea ice reduction is facilitating resource exploration, marine transport, and other economic activities in the regions. Warming waters lead to shifts in marine ecosystems and in soundscapes. Exploitation of resources in the Arctic is expected to grow in the coming decades, offering new opportunities for marine and maritime industries. To measure the environmental impact of ocean noise at a variety of spatial and temporal scales, the International Quiet Ocean Experiment (http://iqoe.org/) established in late 2017 a working group on Arctic Acoustic Environments. The first activities of the Working Group are focusing on identifying locations and times of existing and past acoustic studies in the Arctic Ocean, and synthesise the state-of-the-art on sounds, past, present, and future in the Arctic Ocean. WG activities at the Arctic Observing Summit 2018 (Davos, Switzerland) are linking with indigenous communities and other local stakeholders, to address emerging trends in marine transport and Arctic resource exploitation, and to plan for where/when the optimal acoustic surveys could be, and what metrics they should prioritise.