North Atlantic right whales are nearing extinction, with fewer than 400 left in the world. We know what is killing them: getting hit by shipping boats, entangled in fishing lines and the impacts of climate change — which is changing the location of their food sources. But now, researchers think that human-made noise in the ocean may be having an effect too.

Jenn Thornhill Verma is an environmental journalist who has been reporting on the plight of the North Atlantic right whales as part of her Entangled series for The Globe and Mail, in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network. She explains how scientists are starting to understand how these whales communicate and how loud noises we’re making may be driving them closer to extinction.

Underwater animal and environmental sounds courtesy of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). Passive Acoustics Group. 2021. Stfr_Multisound_NOAA_PAGroup_01. https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/science-data/sounds-ocean

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Whales, extinction and the sounds of underwater noise pollution

The Decibel

Whales, extinction and the sounds of underwater noise pollution