In the Newly Noisy Arctic, Underwater Operations Are Getting Harder
Less ice means more ships, which means more problems for sonar operators and their skippers.
By Caitlin M. Kenney
Staff Reporter
August 2, 2021 06:23 PM ET
Underwater operations in the Arctic are becoming more challenging, in part because more ships are rumbling through the northern waters, a maritime transportation expert said Monday.
Within the last decade, the Bering Sea and Baffin Bay—near Greenland—have seen noise double during the summer months, an increase of 10 decibels, said Alyson Azzara, an international trade specialist at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration.
“So that's important for the environment, for marine mammals, for the fish, for all of that. But it's also important for anything that's operating or listening or recording under the ice, under the water. And what does that mean and how does that need to change or how does that need to adapt? And these are all things that we need to be thinking about going forward,” Azzara said during a panel at the Navy League’s 2021 Sea Air Space convention.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/08/newly-noisy-arctic-underwater-operations-are-getting-harder/184238/
