High Ambient Noise In The Ocean Is Ruining Vocal Calls Of Dolphins

Humans are already doing enough damage to our planet through greenhouse gas emissions, plastic waste, illegal wildlife trade and much more. A new study suggests high ambient noise in the ocean is harming the vocal calls of dolphins, preventing them from communicating with each other the way they used to.

We can almost see dolphins because they are extremely intelligent and social animals. They use ultrasound to communicate with one another, creating a complex array of whistle calls. Their communication skills are often compared to human speech, and it is no secret that dolphins look extremely social in their interactions with humans, whether it is in the wild or in a human-made habitat.

However, a new study published this week in the journal Biology Letters suggests high ambient noise in the ocean is hindering their communication skills. The study says bottlenose dolphins are living near the Maryland.

"Helen Bailey of the University of the Maryland Center for Environmental Science said," It's kind of like trying to answer a question in a nutshell. "Dolphins simplified their calls to the masking effects of vessel noise."

Bailey's assistant, Leila Fouda, added, "The simplification of these whistles can reduce the information in these acoustic signals and make it more difficult for dolphins to communicate."

To listen to the vocal calls of dolphins, the data collected by microphones on the ocean floor. They noted in the study that even though ambient noise can occur naturally, the noise that has been created by ships, which is caused by humans.

"These whistles are really important," Bailey said. "Nobody wants to live in a noisy neighborhood. If you have these chronic noise levels, what does this mean to the population? "

The findings of the new study come in the wake of another study that was recently published. A group of Japanese scientists discovered that humpback whales living around Japan's Ogasawara Islands are reducing their whales to high ambient noise in the ocean from ships.

It is also noted that the study of noise is also important in terms of communication skills.

Bailey also said in the statement about the dolphin study that they should understand the impact of their noise and cause them to be negative.

"We need to be working on engineer quieter boats," she said.