Slowing Down for Ocean Health: Reducing Vessel Noise to Protect Marine Biodiversity
Did you know that reducing ship speeds by just 30% can significantly lower underwater noise and protect marine life—without expensive vessel retrofits?
Marine soundscapes are essential for healthy ocean ecosystems, but in busy shipping routes, vessel noise is a growing threat. It masks communication, disrupts natural behaviours, and causes hearing damage in marine mammals.
Using dBSea, we modelled how slowing down a 350-tonne cargo ship in the Straits of Gibraltar could reduce noise by 10 dB (Findlay et al., 2023), significantly lowering sound pressure and intensity.
The results? Small speed reductions deliver substantial benefits:
- Reduced acoustic disturbance: Marine mammals can communicate and forage more effectively.
- Lower risk of hearing damage: Protecting species from auditory harm.
- Potential habitat recovery: Encouraging animals to return to critical habitats.
With global efforts to reduce emissions on the rise, vessel slowdowns present a powerful dual-benefit solution—reducing underwater noise while cutting fuel use and carbon emissions.
These models were inspired by dBSea and Irwin Carr’s recent involvement in the AMIGOS Survey, more details on the survey here.
