Abstract

This paper focuses on the effect of noise pollution on the communication of marine mammals. Animals such as whales, dolphins, and seals use sound for navigation, socializing, and reproduction, making them Oceano zoological. Their survival, ecological interaction, and social structure rely heavily on marine acoustics. Human activities like shipping traffic, military sonar or offshore drilling, and seismic surveying cause noise pollution that interferes with marine life communication. The masking of signals severely impacts marine mammals’ communication and the behaviors necessary to feed, mate, and socialize. Furthermore, high-intensity sonar noise and underwater detonations can inflict direct and severe damage, such as hearing loss. These disturbances have been shown to affect a marine mammal’s behavior, increase stress, cause displacement from their natural habitat, and alter population demographics in the long term. The increasing volume of human activity worldwide requires marine mammals to receive careful attention from an interdisciplinary approach, along with the development of noise reduction technology. This study stresses the importance of actively working to protect the communication capabilities of marine mammals to ensure their continued existence in an ever-evolving ocean.

Keywords: Noise pollution, Ocean, Mammal communications, Sound for navigation, and Impacts