Impacts
The 100 years since the mechanization of human interaction with the sea has brought a dramatic increase and distribution of noise. For much of this time the accepted orthodoxy was that the vast sea could absorb this. But over the last 20 years we are quickly realizing that the sea is not as vast as we had assumed; we are seeing dramatic evidence that our ocean antics are compromising habitat, depleting life, poisoning the water – and deafening sea life with our "acoustic smog."
In the face of all other human impacts on sea life it would be hard to determine the effects of this acoustic smog on their survival. Synergistic effects are hard to measure; we can only assume that there is some "masking" effect, although this would be species and habitat specific.
Some impacts are unambiguous, such as strandings and "avoidance stampedes" caused by mid frequency sonar and compromised fish catches after seismic airgun operations.