The oceans are no longer the haven of peace we imagined. Noise pollution caused by humans is increasingly affecting the inhabitants. Several investigations had already warned that the noise emitted by ships mislead marine mammals like whales and dolphins, leading to cause death.
However, a new study has analyzed the impact of noise from ships, offshore oil and gas in fish and has demonstrated that affects them as well as vehicle traffic to terrestrial animals.
"The fish make sounds to communicate (for example, to attract mates and deter rivals), bearings, find food and avoid predators. The man-made noise may be masking important sounds and threaten biological reproduction and survival ", explains Hans Slabbekoorn email, the main author of the research, published in 'Trends in Ecology and Evolution'.
Animals clueless
And that noise pollution can confuse animals and away from the best areas to find food or reproduce. And not only that. We also produce stress, which in turn may adversely affect their growth and reproductive ability.
And what are the most affected? Many fish, but not all, emit sounds. Scientists have known about 800 species, although their hearing sensitivity is different. In addition, fish that do emit have been little investigated. Among the best known are the perch, herring and cod. Researchers believe that the eel also occurs even if the reality is as yet unknown details about its ability to emit and receive sounds.
In general, fish detect sounds better in the range of 30 to 1000 Hz, although some may do so at rates of 3,000 Hz and 5,000 Hz, according to this study. For example, Atlantic cod has an average hearing sensitivity while the golden carp or goldfish can hear high frequencies.
Scientists have observed that herring, cod and tuna are developed worse in noisy environments and seek refuge elsewhere.
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