Human activities are not only causing a change in the surface and temperature of the Earth. People focus more on climate change and global warming. Yet there have been very numerous researches on the impact of human activities on the oceans. If we look at the scenario, it shows that even such studies have been confined to the waste and increased temperature. But the latest research has attracted attention for another aspect. According to it, the effect of human noise is also clearly visible in the oceans.
Human intervention affects the ability of aquatic life to communicate via sound.
Changes in the movement of oceans have a major impact on marine life. Researchers say that it has affected everything from micro-organisms to creatures like giant whales. This research has been published in Science Journal. This research has been done by Canadian scientist Francis Haynes. Haynes says that sound can go far in water. Sound is better than light for fish to locate their surroundings.
Haynes said that while light gets dispersed in water, sound moves at a much faster rate in water than in air. Hence fish and sea creatures use sound for communication. Which is not so known to humans or we are careless about aquatic habitat and their sustainability.
How Does It Work?
Sea creatures can assess the correct position of their food by sound and even feel the danger from hunting animals. Shrimps make a sound that leaves them stunned. Apart from this, the song of whale fishes is also like the melody of the violin. But human activities are affecting their specific aquaculture.
Process Of Research
Boat traffic, fishing machines, underwater oil and gas excavation, construction on beaches, and other human activities are making it difficult for sea creatures to listen to each other. Researchers studied thousands of figures and research data to document changes in volume and frequency of sound.
Through this, they tried to keep the fact that human life is being affected by the above activities. Scientists used a special type of underwater microphone to record the sound of fishes in the Red Ocean habitat. Research clearly states that researchers’ attempts to communicate with many marine species were unsuccessful due to the sounds of human activity.
Researchers said that since 1970, the number of marine animals has halved, and now scientists can hear less noise in many areas of the sea. Climate change is also affecting physical processes affecting ocean sounds. It includes melting of air, waves, ice, etc.
Some Live Examples
A while back, news articles talked continuously about how the situation is worsening due to illegal human activities in the Ganges river in the Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh, adjacent to the national capital. NGT is prohibited from running motorboats in the Ganges. Despite that, more than 250 motorboats were being used in the Ganges in Brajghat. Whereas only 100 professionals were issued a license to operate the boat by the local municipality.
Smoke and sound emanate from these diesel-powered motorboats, which are polluting the environment. During that time, there was also talk of the regular deaths of aquatic organisms living in the Ganges. It is a well-known scientific fact that in a flood or a ripple in a river, the dolphin leaves its place and takes refuge in a light water flow area. The ecological system is affected by this pattern of aquatic organisms. Apart from this, the number of crocodiles, which have been identified as an aquatic organism that cleans the Ganges, was also said to decrease.
I don’t know what action the local administration of Hapur would have taken on this, but this research has raised the concern of all environment lovers.