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During confinement, the ocean has once again become a “world of silence”

We know it now: the noise under the sea due to human activities is a pollution which harms underwater wildlife. Cetaceans are the first victims. For scientists interested in the subject, the confinement period which extended from March 16 to May 10 was therefore a boon. The unexpected opportunity to observe, rather listen, a ocean almost rid of human hubbub.

Seventeen day mission

During the confinement, boating, fishing and passenger transport activities were reduced to almost nothing, explains Thomas Folegot, CEO of the Brest company Quiet Oceans. Only some underwater work remained, and the transport of goods which mainly affects offshore navigation rails. Consequently, in the coastal zone, noise pollution has dropped significantly.

This is a historic opportunity to be able to characterize the marine environment in a state of low acoustic pollution , appreciate the scientists of Sphyrna Odyssey. For seventeen days, from April 23 to May 10, they launched their hydrophone-clad drones in the Pelagos sanctuary between the French Riviera, Corsica and Italy. The mission, called Quiet Sea, aimed to monitor the behavior of several cetacean species.

Exploitation of results

If the first observations confirm the return of animals to normally deserted coastal areas, it will take time, and artificial intelligence , to exploit the many results obtained, such as these exceptional records sperm whales, pilot whales and whales communicating over long distances using very low frequencies. Sounds usually covered by noise from shipping.

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