aeinews.org

Autonomous glider listens in on deep-diving whales off Hawaii

A test run of one of the most promising new acoustic monitoring technologies is underway in Hawaiian waters: a six-foot long autonomous glider has been outfitted with a hydrophone, and has likely picked up foraging clicks of beaked whales. University of Washington scientists did the glider's engineering, while Oregon State ...

MMS acoustic monitoring workshop includes AEI ocean noise report as key reading

Thanks to Brandon Southall's blog on his new SEA-inc website, which is fast becoming one of the best places to stay abreast of key ocean acoustics research, I heard today the details of what's planned at the upcoming Minerals Management Service three-day workshop on Acoustic Mitigation and Monitoring Systems for ...

Deep Offshore Wind Planning Surges in Gulf of Maine

The promise of deep offshore wind energy is moving forward rapidly in the wake of the world's first floating wind turbine, deployed off Norway in September by StatoilHydro. The Gulf of Maine is in line to see similar turbines in coming years, thanks to a focused effort by the National ...

Good Overview of Wind Farm Noise Issues in Engineering Magazine

The Institution of Engineering and Technology magazine has published a very good overview of wind turbine noise issues. The article includes summaries and criticisms of many of the leading researchers on both sides of the issue, including the ongoing (and soon to ramp up) controversies surrounding Nina Pierpont's "Wind Turbine ...

Interesting survey of residents within half-mile of wind turbines

This one just popped up, though it's from last spring: a seemingly quite comprehensive survey of people living within a half-mile of one of the major wind farms in Wisconsin that has triggered noise concerns. The results reinforce the emerging picture: many people are being affected, but negative impacts are ...

Ocean Acidification Not Likely to Increase Ambient Background Noise

(this item appeared recently on AEI's lay summary of new research page) Reeder, Chiu. Ocean acidification and its impact on ocean noise level: An analysis using empirical and physical models of acoustic transmission loss. Presented at ASA October 2009 meeting. Udovydchenkov, Duda. Ocean noise level change in response to ocean acidification. Presented ...

A Sober Summary of Recent Studies of Wind Farm Noise Annoyance and Possible Health Effects

(This item appeared recently in AEI's ongoing lay summaries of new research page) The take-away from three new research papers appears to be that while significant proportions of the population – often around 25% – are affected by moderate wind farm noise, neither increasing wind farm noise nor even annoyance with ...

Mediterranean Beaked Whale BRS Cruise: No Tags, New Passive Monitoring Technique

A five-week beaked whale Behavioral Response Study in the Mediterranean concluded in early September with a mixed bag of results: while researchers were unable to affix D-tags to any beaked or pilot whales, they were quite successful in using a new mobile Passive Acoustic Monitoring system which could be very ...

UK, Ontario, Wisconsin Latest Battlegrounds on Wind Turbine Siting, Noise, Health

A lawsuit in Ontario, an EIS in Wisconsin, and a gauntlet thrown down at an industry confab in England are the latest fronts in a global debate over the noise impacts of wind farms sited close to residences. Most dramatic was the opening plenary at the British Wind Energy Association ...

UK War Games Near Dolphin Conservation Area Spur Concern

UK environmental groups have raised concerns about the move of a Europe's biannual Naval exercise to waters outside Moray Firth, which is home to Scotland's only bottlenose dolphin population, and an area in which an increasing number of marine species has been seen in recent years. Operation Joint Warrier will ...