Anthropogenic Noise in the Alaskan Arctic
Abstract
As we study the phenomenon of climate change and its dramatic effects on environments
worldwide, nowhere exists a clearer picture of the change than what is happening in
the Arctic. As ice melts, erosion consumes coastal communities and Arctic tundra landscapes
begin to disappear, it is critical to remember that these dramatic changes are not
just visual but also audible. The continual shrinking of sea ice has allowed for
an influx of actors operating in the Arctic Ocean who have transformed this once pristine
soundscape into a noisy ocean. As the ice continues to melt and human activity in
the Arctic increases, it is necessary to consider how these new anthropogenic stressors
are affecting marine mammals and other ocean dwelling species that rely on the Arctic
Ocean soundscape to meet their most basic needs such a foraging, mating, migrating
and communicating with their young.
The rise in anthropogenic noise in the Arctic due to increased shipping, offshore
oil exploration and various other factors left unregulated arguably results in negative
implications for marine mammals, and by extension, the indigenous inhabitants of the
North Slope Borough of Alaska who survive as subsistence whalers. This project investigates
the potential to limit anthropogenic Arctic Ocean noise in Alaska by 1) using species
occurrence data to map anthropogenic noise threats as a planning tool to inform policy
on the way anthropogenic noise is monitored and regulated and 2) considering how future
anthropogenic noise law and policy regulations could be monitored through the use
of geospatial technologies.
Spatial analyses, such as the initial one attempted here, are an ideal medium for
understanding how anthropogenic changes in the Arctic Ocean soundscape could be impacting
the species that live there and for communicating this problem to policymakers or
other relevant stakeholders who have a responsibility to address the problem. As species,
particularly pelagic species, continually adapt to ever-changing ice cover in the
Arctic and as subarctic species continue to migrate farther north as water temperatures
worldwide rise, being able to spatially capture their movements in relation to anthropogenic
noise sources is critical in protecting them. These spatial data and analysis can
then become management tools to inform anthropogenic noise law and policy so that
much-needed regulation can be put in place. Compiling spatial data to show the possible
reaches of harmful anthropogenic noise in a way that can easily be incorporated into
already existing marine geospatial platforms and other existing management plans for
the area will make it easier for law and policymakers to use the data, and to see
how noise pollution fits into the greater regulatory framework for the ecosystems
they are managing.
Type
Master's projectPermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14177Citation
Nasgovitz, Megan (2017). Anthropogenic Noise in the Alaskan Arctic. Master's project, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14177.Collections
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