UNDERWATER explosions and sonar tests may be giving whales and dolphins the
equivalent of the bends.
The US Navy regularly booms out sonar signals across the ocean in a bid to
track submarines, and conducts controlled explosions under water. Commercial
shipping, seismic exploration for oil, and scientific experiments that use sound
to measure ocean temperature add to the cacophony
(Â鶹´«Ã½, 1 March 1997, p 30).
Biologists have long suspected that noise pollution is disrupting the hearing
and behaviour of these inhabitants of the deep, compelling them to beach
themselves. Now researchers believe that it could cause haemorrhaging and…
