So-narked: Military sonar disrupts fin whales

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-12-13 11:01

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US and UK researchers say that the use of sonar by the military is causing endangered fin whales to change how they dive and search for food. The team tagged and monitored groups of fin whales around the south coasts of California in the US and compared their behaviours when they were exposed to active sonar - the kind that sends out sound waves to reflect off of things in the ocean -, random sounds in the same frequencies, or non-sonar activity. The team say both sonar and noise-related behavioural changes were detected in five out of fifteen whales.

Media release

From: The Royal Society

So-narked– Military sonar may cause endangered fin whales to change their diving or feeding behaviours. In the first experimentally-controlled study of its kind, fin whales around Southern California were tagged and monitored when exposed to active sonar, pseudorandom noise of similar frequency, or non-sonar activity. Sonar and noise-related behaviour changes were detected in five out of fifteen whales. This builds on research in blue whales and could help mitigate noise impacts.

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Research The Royal Society, Web page The URL will go live after the embargo ends (Royal Society links are notorious for being late to go live)

Journal/
conference: Royal Society Open Science

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Santa Cruz, USA

Funder: Primary funding for the SOCAL-BRS project was initially provided by the U.S. Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations Environmental Readiness Division and subsequently by the U.S. Navy’s Living Marine Resources (LMR) Program. Additional support for environmental sampling and logistics was also provided by the Office of Naval Research, Marine Mammal Program.

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