Ears Wide Open

Current Activities Highlights

During the early spring, the Institute has been stirring beneath the soil, preparing new growth that will emerge in the next few months.

We are putting together a new project, which will highlight creative presentations of scientific research. Inspired by the passion of board members David Dunn and Steve Feld, AEI will be encouraging the interface between science and sound art. The works we will highlight are designed to both engage the public and inform the research community, suggesting new lines of inquiry. By the time of the next quarterly issue of Ears Wide Open, we should be ready to premier this section of the site. In the meantime, AEI Executive Director Jim Cummings will be travelling to the University of California, Riverside to present on this work at the Sound, Environment, and Connective Technology Symposium in mid-May.

A burst of new research reports has also kept Jim busy. He is preparing a Special Report on the Marine Mammal Commission's aborted attempt to find a consensus among industry, military, academic, and environmental groups about how to address the impact of human noise on whales and dolphins. Unable to agree on a final consensus report, each of the stakeholder groups submitted its own summary of its views, with the MMC itself still finalizing its report. AEI's Special Report will summarize the conclusions of each. Keep an eye on the Science/Recent Research page of the AEI website for new summaries of individual research reports, as well. The Recent Science Findings link on this bulletin contains the most compelling new studies.

Finally, AEI's thumbs are tiring after four months of twidling, waiting for the IRS to provisionally approve our application as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. When we submitted the application last August, we were told to expect a reply in 120 days, by early January. At that point, we were told they were backlogged, and it would take 200 days. Now, at 240 days, they tell us a response is 5 weeks away, sometime in early June. Needless to say, this has put a damper on our planned fundraising efforts. Given this situation, the membership donations from new members have played a key role by funding the modest overhead costs of the Institute. Now we just need to be able to solicit large donations that can pay some salary!

Ocean Noise and Ethics

Over the past two years, as I've found myself drawn ever deeper into the world of ocean noise, I've often felt torn between the voice of reasoned analysis of the issues at play and the measurable effects of our noise on ocean creatures, and a desire to speak more from the heart about the underlying questions raised by humanity's habit of moving ahead, blindly (deafly?), in whatever direction we wish.

My education began in late 2003 with a crash course in ocean acoustics and the effects of seismic surveys, undertaken while writing a report under contract from Greenpeace. From there, I got an immersion into agency and academic researchers who regulate and make noise at sea, thanks to being asked to moderate a panel at the 8th International Wildlife Law Conference in late 2004. From there, the editing of a special edition of the Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy, to be published later this year, introduced me to industry analysts and field researchers tugging in both directions, some increasingly concerend about the effects of our noise, and others convinced that we are over-reacting. In the midst of all that, I engaged in a fairly lengthy dialogue with National Marine Fisheries Service staffers about their attempts to come up with a new ocean noise criteria.

This broad exposure to environmental advocates, field researchers, industry perspectives, and agency staffers has led me to understand that the effects of ocean noise are not easily understood or dealt with. But more importantly, I've become convinced that the central focus of most of the debate is misplaced. The dramatic, and tragically avoidable, strandings of whales and dolphins after noise exposure are, understandably but disoncertingly, dominating our attention, while other, more fundamental impacts and questions, receive little notice. I am becoming increasingly concerned that these rare deaths are far less important to the health of the seas than the subtler, increasingly widespread exposure of ocean creatures to chronic, moderate levels of human noise. The stress reaction triggered when human noise causes difficulties in communicating or repeatedly makes animals move away from disturbing noise sources is likely weakening most ocean creatures, making them more susceptible to the witch's brew of other human insults to their habitats, from toxins to warming oceans and diminishing food supplies. Recent research confirms that chronic ship noise increases stress in fish; the link between stress and reduced health has been confirmed in many animals (though not, to date, marine creatures).

I'll have much more to say about this need to address the subtler affects of noise in the months to come. Over the past few months, I've also been working on a couple of essays that move beyond the journalistic tone of most of the AEI publications. In these, I acknowledge the underlying, oft-unspoken deeper questions that need to be asked, about whether we have the right to be making so much noise in this world. These questions quickly lead to some murky territory (what about national defense? can we really forego offshore oil and gas deposits?), but pretending things are simple is probably not going to help us in these difficult times.

I hope to soon get these two essays into a form that is "ready for prime time." It is crucially important that we do not get lost in the minutae of acoustics science, or caught in endless loops of arguments about acceptible levels of exposure. While these are, of course, important topics to address, they can leave us disconcertingly distant from the fundamental choices that we are, in fact, making, regarding our relationship with the rest of life. It is important for us to attempt to appreciate the experience of ocean creatures, to consider the subtler effects of our actions on their well-being, and to resist the easy inertia that keeps us from addressing the deeper questions.

More on this in the months to come.......