Marine Mammals and Noise - by W John Richardson & Charles R Greene & Charles I Malme (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Many marine mammals communicate by emitting sounds that pass through water. Such sounds can be received across great distances and can influence the behavior of these undersea creatures. In the past few decades, the oceans have become increasingly noisy, as underwater sounds from propellers, sonars, and other human activities make it difficult for marine mammals to communicate. This book discusses, among many other topics, just how well marine mammals hear, how noisy the oceans have become, and what effects these new sounds have on marine mammals. The baseline of ambient noise, the sounds produced by machines and mammals, the sensitivity of marine mammal hearing, and the reactions of marine mammals are also examined.
An essential addition to any marine biologist's library, Marine Mammals and Noise will be especially appealing to marine mammalogists, researchers, policy makers and regulators, and marine biologists and oceanographers using sound in their research.

From the Back Cover

Many marine mammals communicate by emitting sounds that pass through water. Such sounds can be received across great distances and can influence the behavior of these undersea creatures. In the past few decades, the oceans have become increasingly noisy, as underwater sounds from propellers, sonars, and other human activities make it difficult for marine mammals to communicate. This book will discuss, among many other topics, just how well marine mammals hear, how noisy the oceans have become, and what effects these new sounds have on marine mammals. The baseline of ambient noise, the sounds produced by machines and mammals, the sensitivity of marine mammal hearing, and the reactions of marine mammals are also examined. An essential addition to any marine biologist's library, Marine Mammals and Noise will be especially appealing to marine mammalogists, researchers, policy makers and regulators and marine biologists and oceanographers using sound in their research.

Review Quotes

Praise for the Book
the text is well written and flows quite smoothly... a valuable, detailed source book for any marine biologist, and certainly for marine mammologists, be they field researchers or agency officers and administrators. Strongly recommend.
--JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL MARINE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY, 1997
...provides a comprehensive review of the effects of man-made noise on marine mammals... very timely given the growing interest and concern about underwater noise as a form of habitat degradation in the marine environment. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in bioacoustics, marine biology, or the conservation of marine animals. It will be the standard reference for a large body of literature...
--ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR, 1997
A very readable text and specific topics are quite easy to locate...The authors are to be congratulated for the depth of their research and particularly for the clarity and objectivity of their presentation of what is a technically complex, sometimes emotive and frequently misinterpreted subject area... Thoroughly recommended reading and an excellent reference.
--David Goodson, Loughborough University, in AQUATIC MAMMALS