Urbanisation of marine environment impacts on seal hearing and is comparable to noise pollution of inner citiesSeals are being temporarily deafened by underwater noise in the UK’s busy shipping lanes, a new study suggests. Researchers compared the experience of the seals to that of people living amid the din of inner cities. Dr Esther Jones, an ecologist from the University of St Andrews, said: “Like humans living in busy, noisy cities, some seals live in areas where there is a lot of shipping traffic and associated noise. For 20 of the 28 seals studied, the predicted noise from shipping was loud enough to cause temporary hearing loss. The maps showed that 11 of 25 special areas of conservation may contain seals affected by shipping.

Source: The Guardian May 02, 2017 16:30 UTC