Gentler sonar
- June 26, 2022
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Gentler sonar
Subject: Science
- Scientists at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the United States are working to replace whale-harming sonar with the ambient sounds made by aquatic creatures.
- The low-frequency booms of giant goliath groupers (Epinephelus itajara) and the super-loud snaps of pistol shrimp are among the sounds being considered.
Sonar and Whales
- Active sonar, the transmission equipment used on some ships to assist with navigation, is detrimental to the health and livelihood of some marine animals.
- Research has recently shown that beaked and blue whales are sensitive to mid-frequency active sonar and move rapidly away from the source of the sonar, a response that disrupts their feeding and can cause mass strandings.
- Some marine animals, such as whales and dolphins, use echolocation or “biosonar” systems to locate predators and prey.
- It is conjectured that active sonar transmitters could confuse these animals and interfere with basic biological functions such as feeding and mating.
- The study has shown whales experience decompression sickness, a disease that forces nitrogen into gas bubbles in the tissues and is caused by rapid and prolonged surfacing.
- Although whales were originally thought to be immune to this disease, sonar has been implicated in causing behavioral changes that can lead to decompression sickness.