NOISY ice-breakers may be scaring threatened beluga whales away from their
preferred habitats in the Arctic and even damaging their hearing, say
researchers in Canada. They have developed software that might help ice-breaker
crews—and other noisy industries—to work more quietly.
Beluga numbers in parts of the Canadian Arctic are declining, according to
Christine Erbe of the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, British Columbia.
The reasons for this are unclear, she says. While overfishing and chemical
pollution are thought to be major culprits, noise may also be a factor. “Since
the industrialisation of the Arctic, the beluga’s habitat…
