Industrial & Seismic Sounds
Modern society's thirst for oil is driving petrochemical operations deeper into the oceans. Seismic airgun surveys are used to both explore for oil deposits, as well as assess the conditions of working fields.
A seismic survey is done by way of a ship towing an array of airguns that in some cases can be heard thousands of miles across ocean basins. These surveys are known to have compromised commercial fisheries, and in one case they were implicated in the stranding of beaked whales.
Additional industrial development in the ocean, such as seafloor petroleum processing, Liquefied Natural Gas plants and minerals extraction operations will significantly increase the din of human generated ocean noise world-wide.