When Whales Cannot Hear: Ocean Noise Doubling Every 10 Years

From:  Truth Out

Saturday, 04 June 2016 00:00 

 By Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report 

"Marine species need sound for everything they do, and have exquisite hearing," says Dr. Kenneth Balcomb. "But now the sounds of ships is ubiquitous in all of the open oceans." (Photo: Ronald Woan / Flickr) 

A blue whale is able to communicate with another blue whale across the breadth of an entire ocean basin, and can hear storms more than 1,000 miles away.

"Whales are reliant upon their hearing to live," Dr. Sylvia Earle, a marine biologist, author and lecturer who has been a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998 says in the documentary Sonic Sea.

Earle, who has logged more than 7,000 hours underwater, refers to the oceans as "the blue heart of the planet," and has dedicated her life to researching and protecting them.  MORE