An ocean of noise: how sonic pollution is hurting marine life – podcast

The Audio Long Read

The Guardian

Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 6 June 2022

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today’s oceans are a tumult of engine roar, artificial sonar and seismic blasts that make it impossible for marine creatures to hunt or communicate. We could make it stop, so why don’t we?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The Guardian.
0:30.0	This is The Guardian.
1:00.0	A blurry facsimile of the sonic connections of the whales themselves.
1:05.0	Every skipper heard the voices of the others, relayed by electromagnetic waves.
1:11.0	The quarry could not escape.
1:14.0	Whales guaranteed shouted the billboards on shore.
1:23.0	We motored on weaving around island headlands.
1:27.0	A siding off the southwest shore of San Juan Island.
1:32.0	Through binoculars, a dorsal fin sithed the water, then dipped.
1:39.0	Another, with a spray of mist as the animal exhaled.
1:44.0	Then, no sign.
1:48.0	But the whale's location was easy to spot.
1:51.0	A dozen boats clustered, most slowly motoring west away from the shore.
1:58.0	We powered closer, slowing the engine until we were traveling without raising awake.
2:04.0	And took our place on the outer edge of the gaggle of yachts and cruisers.
2:10.0	A sheet of marble skated just under the water s surface.
2:15.0	Oily smooth.
2:18.0	A spill of black ink sheeding under the hazed bottle glass of the water s surface.
2:24.0	Pruff!
2:26.0	Surfacing 15 meters ahead of the boat, the exhalation was plosive and rough.
2:31.0	The pod of about ten animals came to the surface.
2:35.0	Part of the L pod of Orcas, our captain said,
	...

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