Underwater noise in the Arctic - Understanding impacts and defining management solutions
Subject
Abstract
Underwater noise from shipping is recognised as a serious environmental problem that has impacts on Arctic species, ecosystems and ecosystem services. The goal of this report is to improve understanding of underwater noise and identify possible actions that may help address this issue in the Arctic by assessing contributions of underwater noise from shipping under various economic and environmental scenarios.
This report explores current and future Arctic shipping and associated underwater noise at two timepoints: 2019 to represent the present and 2030, to present the near future based on a modelled shipping scenario reflecting growth in shipping sectors. The report focuses across the whole Arctic Ocean, as well as three sub-regions where there is a high overlap of ship traffic with habitats of noise-sensitive species (whales and other marine mammals). It also evaluates noise implications of several ship traffic management measures and presents the results of these in each sub-region.