0:00:01.375,0:00:04.833
This is the sound of orcas[br]off the coast of Vancouver.

0:00:05.333,0:00:10.417
(Whale sounds)

0:00:11.417,0:00:14.309
They make these fantastic sounds[br]not just to communicate,

0:00:14.333,0:00:16.476
but also sometimes to echolocate,

0:00:16.500,0:00:18.917
to find their way around and to find food.

0:00:19.417,0:00:21.059
But that can be tricky sometimes,

0:00:21.083,0:00:24.351
because, well, here is the sound[br]of a ship passing by,

0:00:24.375,0:00:25.934
recorded underwater.

0:00:25.958,0:00:31.042
(Oscillating sound)

0:00:32.452,0:00:34.643
You know, when we think[br]about marine pollution,

0:00:34.667,0:00:36.684
I think we usually think about plastics.

0:00:36.708,0:00:38.309
Maybe toxic chemicals,

0:00:38.333,0:00:41.434
or even ocean acidification[br]from climate change.

0:00:41.458,0:00:44.893
As a science journalist who often writes[br]about environmental issues,

0:00:44.917,0:00:47.059
those are the things[br]that have passed my desk

0:00:47.083,0:00:49.059
over the past 10 years or so.

0:00:49.083,0:00:50.351
But as I recently realized

0:00:50.375,0:00:53.434
when I was writing a feature[br]for the science journal "Nature,"

0:00:53.458,0:00:56.726
noise is another[br]important kind of pollution.

0:00:56.750,0:00:58.417
One that often gets ignored.

0:00:59.375,0:01:02.393
You know, maybe you've heard[br]of the dark-skies movement,

0:01:02.417,0:01:05.893
which aimed to raise awareness[br]of the issue of light pollution

0:01:05.917,0:01:08.601
and create pockets of unilluminated night,

0:01:08.625,0:01:10.518
so that people and animals

0:01:10.542,0:01:15.726
could enjoy more natural cycles[br]of light and dark, night and day.

0:01:15.750,0:01:17.059
Well, in much the same way,

0:01:17.083,0:01:18.934
there are people now raising awareness

0:01:18.958,0:01:20.518
of the issue of noise pollution

0:01:20.542,0:01:23.726
and trying to create[br]pockets of quiet in the ocean,

0:01:23.750,0:01:27.583
so that marine life can enjoy[br]a more natural soundscape.

0:01:28.500,0:01:29.809
This is important.

0:01:29.833,0:01:32.393
Noise isn't just an irritation.

0:01:32.417,0:01:34.518
It can cause chronic stress,

0:01:34.542,0:01:36.268
or even physical injury.

0:01:36.292,0:01:39.726
It can affect marine life's ability[br]to find food and mates

0:01:39.750,0:01:42.583
and to listen out for predators and more.

0:01:43.792,0:01:47.018
Think of all the sounds[br]we inject into the ocean.

0:01:47.042,0:01:49.934
Perhaps one of the most dramatic[br]is the seismic surveys

0:01:49.958,0:01:52.434
used to look for oil and gas.

0:01:52.458,0:01:54.684
Air guns produce loud blasts,

0:01:54.708,0:01:57.143
sometimes every 10 to 15 seconds,

0:01:57.167,0:01:58.726
for months on end.

0:01:58.750,0:02:00.809
And they use the reflections[br]of these sounds

0:02:00.833,0:02:02.559
to map the ground beneath.

0:02:02.583,0:02:04.042
It can sound like this.

0:02:05.917,0:02:10.583
(Explosion sounds)

0:02:11.875,0:02:15.184
Then, there's the sound[br]of the actual drilling for oil and gas,

0:02:15.208,0:02:18.393
the construction of things[br]like offshore wind farms,

0:02:18.417,0:02:19.684
sonar

0:02:19.708,0:02:23.726
and of course, the nearly constant drone[br]from more than 50,000 ships

0:02:23.750,0:02:25.667
in the global merchant fleet.

0:02:26.792,0:02:29.268
Now the natural ocean itself[br]isn't exactly quiet.

0:02:29.292,0:02:31.059
If you put your head under the water,

0:02:31.083,0:02:34.643
you can hear cracking ice, wind, rain,

0:02:34.667,0:02:36.768
singing whales, grunting fish,

0:02:36.792,0:02:38.684
even snapping shrimp.

0:02:38.708,0:02:40.726
Altogether, that can create a soundscape

0:02:40.750,0:02:42.851
of maybe 50 to 100 decibels,

0:02:42.875,0:02:45.809
depending on where and when you are.

0:02:45.833,0:02:48.601
But mankind's addition to that[br]has been dramatic.

0:02:48.625,0:02:53.101
It's estimated that shipping has added[br]three decibels of noise to the ocean

0:02:53.125,0:02:55.976
every 10 years in recent decades.

0:02:56.000,0:02:57.559
That might not sound like a lot,

0:02:57.583,0:02:59.726
but decibels are on a logarithmic scale,

0:02:59.750,0:03:01.643
like the Richter scale for earthquakes.

0:03:01.667,0:03:05.309
So a small number can actually[br]represent a large change.

0:03:05.333,0:03:09.684
Three decibels means a doubling[br]of noise intensity in the ocean.

0:03:09.708,0:03:10.958
A doubling.

0:03:11.750,0:03:13.143
And that's only an estimate,

0:03:13.167,0:03:16.309
because no one is actually keeping track[br]of how noisy the ocean is

0:03:16.333,0:03:18.226
all around the world.

0:03:18.250,0:03:22.309
There is a body called[br]the International Quiet Ocean Experiment,

0:03:22.333,0:03:23.601
and one of their missions

0:03:23.625,0:03:26.125
is to try and plug the hole in that data.

0:03:27.542,0:03:28.809
So for example, last year,

0:03:28.833,0:03:32.309
they managed to convince[br]the Global Ocean Observation System

0:03:32.333,0:03:33.601
to start including noise

0:03:33.625,0:03:36.184
as one of their essential[br]variables for monitoring,

0:03:36.208,0:03:39.000
alongside things[br]like temperature and salinity.

0:03:40.208,0:03:41.476
We do know some things.

0:03:41.500,0:03:45.101
We know that sonar can be as loud,[br]or nearly as loud,

0:03:45.125,0:03:46.976
as an underwater volcano.

0:03:47.000,0:03:51.184
A supertanker can be as loud[br]as the call of a blue whale.

0:03:51.208,0:03:54.268
The noises we add to the ocean[br]come in all different frequencies

0:03:54.292,0:03:56.351
and can travel great distances.

0:03:56.375,0:03:59.393
Seismic surveys off the East Coast[br]of the United States

0:03:59.417,0:04:02.768
can be heard in the middle[br]of the Atlantic.

0:04:02.792,0:04:04.768
In the 1960s, they did an experiment

0:04:04.792,0:04:08.018
where they set off a loud noise[br]off the coast of Perth, Australia,

0:04:08.042,0:04:10.476
and they detected it[br]as far away as Bermuda,

0:04:10.500,0:04:13.375
20,000 kilometers away.

0:04:15.917,0:04:18.393
So what does all this[br]sound like to marine life,

0:04:18.417,0:04:19.684
what do they hear?

0:04:19.708,0:04:21.434
It's kind of difficult to describe.

0:04:21.458,0:04:24.643
Sound travels further, faster in water[br]than it does in air,

0:04:24.667,0:04:27.226
and it also packs a different punch.

0:04:27.250,0:04:30.393
So sound of the same pressure[br]will have a different intensity

0:04:30.417,0:04:33.893
whether you measure it[br]in the air or underwater.

0:04:33.917,0:04:38.101
Then there's the fact that whales[br]don't have ears exactly like human ears.

0:04:38.125,0:04:39.559
Creatures like zooplankton

0:04:39.583,0:04:43.101
don't even have what you would[br]consider to be ears.

0:04:43.125,0:04:44.393
So what does this mean,

0:04:44.417,0:04:47.250
what is the impact[br]on all this marine life?

0:04:48.042,0:04:50.393
Perhaps the easiest thing[br]for scientists to assess

0:04:50.417,0:04:51.934
is the effect of acute noise,

0:04:51.958,0:04:53.851
really loud sudden blasts

0:04:53.875,0:04:56.625
that might cause physical injury[br]or hearing loss.

0:04:57.458,0:05:00.893
Beaked whales, for example,[br]can go into panicked dives

0:05:00.917,0:05:02.726
when exposed to loud noises,

0:05:02.750,0:05:06.167
which may even give them[br]a condition similar to the bends.

0:05:07.167,0:05:11.518
In the 1960s, after the introduction[br]of more powerful sonar technologies,

0:05:11.542,0:05:15.434
the number of incidents of mass[br]whale strandings of beaked whales

0:05:15.458,0:05:16.875
went up dramatically.

0:05:17.833,0:05:19.601
And it's not just marine mammals,

0:05:19.625,0:05:23.893
fish, if they stray too close[br]to the source of a loud sound,

0:05:23.917,0:05:27.184
their fish bladders may actually explode.

0:05:27.208,0:05:29.268
The airgun blasts from seismic surveys

0:05:29.292,0:05:32.018
can mow down a swath of zooplankton,

0:05:32.042,0:05:34.684
the tiny creatures near the base[br]of the food chain,

0:05:34.708,0:05:37.958
or can deform scallop larvae[br]while they're developing.

0:05:39.417,0:05:41.518
Well, what about chronic noise,

0:05:41.542,0:05:44.268
the more pervasive issue[br]of raising background noise

0:05:44.292,0:05:45.768
from things like shipping?

0:05:45.792,0:05:49.643
That can mask or drown out[br]the natural soundscape.

0:05:49.667,0:05:53.351
Some whales have responded to this[br]by literally changing their tune,

0:05:53.375,0:05:57.768
a little bit like people[br]shouting to be heard in a noisy nightclub.

0:05:57.792,0:06:01.518
And some fish will spend more time[br]patrolling their borders

0:06:01.542,0:06:03.851
and less time caring for their young,

0:06:03.875,0:06:05.708
as if they're on high alert.

0:06:07.750,0:06:11.184
Chronic noise can affect[br]people too, of course.

0:06:11.208,0:06:14.059
Studies have shown[br]that people living near busy airports

0:06:14.083,0:06:15.601
or really busy highways

0:06:15.625,0:06:18.893
may have elevated levels[br]of cardiovascular disease.

0:06:18.917,0:06:21.309
And students living[br]under busy flight paths

0:06:21.333,0:06:24.226
may do worse on some educational tests.

0:06:24.250,0:06:27.184
And even while I was[br]researching this subject,

0:06:27.208,0:06:30.351
they were actually blasting out[br]about three meters of solid granite

0:06:30.375,0:06:32.768
from the lot across from my home office

0:06:32.792,0:06:34.393
to make room for a new house,

0:06:34.417,0:06:36.684
and the constant jittering[br]of the rock hammer

0:06:36.708,0:06:39.434
was driving me completely insane.

0:06:39.458,0:06:42.018
And whenever the workers[br]stopped for a moment,

0:06:42.042,0:06:44.167
I could feel my shoulders relax.

0:06:45.250,0:06:48.143
This effect has been seen in whales too.

0:06:48.167,0:06:50.768
After the terrorist attacks of 9/11,

0:06:50.792,0:06:53.976
international shipping largely[br]ground to a halt for a little while

0:06:54.000,0:06:57.059
in the waters off the East Coast[br]of the United States.

0:06:57.083,0:06:58.351
And in that lull,

0:06:58.375,0:07:01.643
researchers noticed that endangered[br]right whales in that region

0:07:01.667,0:07:05.458
had fewer chemical markers of stress[br]in their feces samples.

0:07:06.333,0:07:08.893
As one researcher I spoke to likes to say,

0:07:08.917,0:07:11.625
"We were stressed,[br]but the whales weren't."

0:07:13.500,0:07:14.768
Now you have to remember,

0:07:14.792,0:07:17.018
we have evolved to be a visual species.

0:07:17.042,0:07:19.268
We really rely on our eyes.

0:07:19.292,0:07:21.434
But marine life relies on sound

0:07:21.458,0:07:23.792
the way that we rely on sight.

0:07:25.458,0:07:27.809
For them, a noisy ocean

0:07:27.833,0:07:31.268
may be as befuddling and even dangerous

0:07:31.292,0:07:33.542
as a dense fog is for us.

0:07:34.625,0:07:38.226
And maybe sometimes that just means[br]being a little more stressed,

0:07:38.250,0:07:41.434
maybe sometimes it means[br]spending a little less time with the kids.

0:07:41.458,0:07:43.851
Maybe some species can adapt.

0:07:43.875,0:07:46.601
But some researchers worry[br]that for endangered species

0:07:46.625,0:07:48.018
already on the brink

0:07:48.042,0:07:50.667
noise may be enough[br]to push them over the edge.

0:07:51.917,0:07:54.643
So take, for example,[br]the southern resident killer whales

0:07:54.667,0:07:57.559
that live in the waters[br]off my home town of Vancouver.

0:07:57.583,0:08:00.934
There are only 75, maybe 76 animals left

0:08:00.958,0:08:02.476
in this population.

0:08:02.500,0:08:04.893
And they're facing a lot of challenges.

0:08:04.917,0:08:07.434
There are chemical pollutants[br]in these waters

0:08:07.458,0:08:11.726
and they are running low on the salmon[br]that they really rely on for food.

0:08:11.750,0:08:13.393
And then there's noise.

0:08:13.417,0:08:16.143
When researchers studied these[br]and similar killer whales,

0:08:16.167,0:08:20.351
they found that they spend[br]between 18 and 25 percent less time

0:08:20.375,0:08:23.434
feeding in the presence[br]of loud boat noise.

0:08:23.458,0:08:26.351
And that's a lot for a species[br]that's already struggling

0:08:26.375,0:08:28.375
to find enough food to thrive.

0:08:29.583,0:08:32.976
The good news, as I heard[br]from all the researches I spoke to,

0:08:33.000,0:08:36.976
is that you can do something[br]relatively easily about ocean noise.

0:08:37.000,0:08:39.684
Unlike the wicked problems[br]of climate change

0:08:39.708,0:08:41.309
and ocean acidification,

0:08:41.333,0:08:43.976
you can just dial down[br]the knob on ocean noise

0:08:44.000,0:08:46.167
and see almost immediate impacts.

0:08:47.250,0:08:49.726
So for example, in 2017,

0:08:49.750,0:08:52.101
the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority

0:08:52.125,0:08:54.768
started asking ships to simply slow down

0:08:54.792,0:08:56.684
when going through the Haro Strait,

0:08:56.708,0:09:00.268
where the southern resident killer whales[br]are feeding in late summer.

0:09:00.292,0:09:02.851
Slower ships are quieter ships.

0:09:02.875,0:09:05.143
And because it's Canada, you can just ask,

0:09:05.167,0:09:06.434
it can be voluntary.

0:09:06.458,0:09:07.726
(Laughter)

0:09:07.750,0:09:12.643
(Applause)

0:09:12.667,0:09:15.768
In that 2017 trial,[br]most of the ships complied,

0:09:15.792,0:09:18.018
adding about half an hour[br]to their travel time,

0:09:18.042,0:09:20.809
and reducing noise by about 1.2 decibels

0:09:20.833,0:09:23.851
or 24 percent of noise intensity.

0:09:23.875,0:09:26.643
This year, they decided[br]to extend the length of time

0:09:26.667,0:09:29.559
and the area over which[br]they're asking ships to slow down.

0:09:29.583,0:09:32.958
So hopefully, that has[br]a positive impact for these whales.

0:09:34.542,0:09:36.851
In 2017, the Vancouver[br]Fraser Port Authority

0:09:36.875,0:09:39.768
also introduced discounts in docking fees

0:09:39.792,0:09:43.018
for ships that are physically[br]designed to be quieter.

0:09:43.042,0:09:45.809
You know, weirdly, a lot of the noise[br]from a ship like this

0:09:45.833,0:09:49.476
comes from the popping of tiny bubbles[br]off the back of its propeller.

0:09:49.500,0:09:52.601
And you can simply design a ship[br]to do less of that

0:09:52.625,0:09:54.518
and to be quieter.

0:09:54.542,0:09:58.309
The International Maritime Organization[br]has published a huge list of ways

0:09:58.333,0:10:00.851
that boats can be made quieter.

0:10:00.875,0:10:03.101
And they also have a target

0:10:03.125,0:10:05.809
of reducing carbon dioxide emissions[br]from global shipping

0:10:05.833,0:10:08.351
by 50 percent by 2050.

0:10:08.375,0:10:11.434
And the great news is that[br]these two things go hand in hand.

0:10:11.458,0:10:14.958
On the whole, a more[br]efficient ship is a quieter ship.

0:10:17.167,0:10:21.059
People have also invented quieter ways[br]of hammering in the giant posts

0:10:21.083,0:10:23.684
needed for giant[br]wind turbines like this one.

0:10:23.708,0:10:26.684
And gentler ways of doing seismic surveys.

0:10:26.708,0:10:30.101
And there are some incentives[br]for using quieter technologies.

0:10:30.125,0:10:31.851
The European Union, for example,

0:10:31.875,0:10:35.351
has a healthy marine system[br]directive for 2020.

0:10:35.375,0:10:38.268
And one of the ways that they define[br]a healthy marine system

0:10:38.292,0:10:41.518
is by how much noise[br]is going in those waters.

0:10:41.542,0:10:45.268
But on the whole, most waters[br]remain completely unregulated

0:10:45.292,0:10:47.042
when it comes to ocean noise.

0:10:48.125,0:10:50.184
But again, most of[br]the scientists I spoke to

0:10:50.208,0:10:53.018
said that there's real momentum[br]right now in policy circles

0:10:53.042,0:10:54.518
to pay attention to this issue

0:10:54.542,0:10:57.226
and maybe do something about this issue.

0:10:57.250,0:11:01.393
We already know enough to say[br]that quieter seas are healthier seas.

0:11:01.417,0:11:05.434
But now scientists are really scrambling[br]to come up with the details.

0:11:05.458,0:11:07.434
Just how quiet do we need to be?

0:11:07.458,0:11:11.934
And where are the best places[br]to make quiet or preserve quiet?

0:11:11.958,0:11:14.375
And how best can we hush our noise?

0:11:15.667,0:11:17.601
And you know, I'm not trying to tell you

0:11:17.625,0:11:20.518
that noise is the biggest[br]environmental problem on the planet

0:11:20.542,0:11:21.809
or even in the ocean.

0:11:21.833,0:11:25.643
But the point is that humankind[br]has a lot of impacts

0:11:25.667,0:11:28.143
on our environmental system.

0:11:28.167,0:11:30.309
And these impacts don't act in isolation.

0:11:30.333,0:11:32.851
They act together and they multiply.

0:11:32.875,0:11:35.309
So even for the ones[br]that are not so obvious,

0:11:35.333,0:11:38.000
we really need to pay attention to them.

0:11:39.917,0:11:41.851
I'll tell you about one last experiment,

0:11:41.875,0:11:43.476
just because it's so beautiful.

0:11:43.500,0:11:44.768
So Rob Williams,

0:11:44.792,0:11:48.018
one of the researchers who works[br]on southern resident killer whales,

0:11:48.042,0:11:49.851
also does some work in Bali.

0:11:49.875,0:11:51.934
And there, they celebrate[br]a Hindu tradition

0:11:51.958,0:11:54.809
called nyepi, or a day of silence.

0:11:54.833,0:11:57.768
And this day, apparently,[br]is very strictly observed.

0:11:57.792,0:11:59.851
No planes take off from the airport,

0:11:59.875,0:12:01.434
no boats go out fishing,

0:12:01.458,0:12:06.018
the tourists are gently led off the beach[br]back into their hotel rooms.

0:12:06.042,0:12:08.768
And Rob Williams put some[br]hydrophones in the water there

0:12:08.792,0:12:10.184
to see what the impact was,

0:12:10.208,0:12:11.518
and it was dramatic.

0:12:11.542,0:12:14.268
Sound levels dropped[br]by six to nine decibels,

0:12:14.292,0:12:17.643
about the same[br]as in the waters after 9/11.

0:12:17.667,0:12:20.518
For an "acoustic prospector"[br]like Williams,

0:12:20.542,0:12:22.434
which is what he calls himself,

0:12:22.458,0:12:24.726
this silence is golden.

0:12:24.750,0:12:28.018
Now he and other researchers[br]can go back to this place

0:12:28.042,0:12:29.662
and see what the fish choose to do

0:12:29.686,0:12:32.226
with all this additional[br]acoustic real estate.

0:12:32.250,0:12:36.101
(Sounds of underwater)

0:12:36.125,0:12:39.101
I like to think of them[br]having their own holiday,

0:12:39.125,0:12:41.434
feasting and finding mates.

0:12:41.458,0:12:43.518
Celebrating their own spot of calm

0:12:43.542,0:12:46.226
in an otherwise noisy world.

0:12:46.250,0:12:47.518
Thank you.

0:12:47.542,0:12:50.042
(Applause)