JOHANNESBURG, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Noise produced by
mining the seabed could interfere with whales' ability to
communicate with one another, according to a study released on
Tuesday, just as plans to start deep-sea mining for battery
metals gather pace.
The peer-reviewed study, funded by Umweltstiftung
Greenpeace, a foundation arm of the environmental organisation,
argues that more research is needed to assess the risk deep-sea
mining could pose to large marine mammals.
Several nations and companies are pushing ahead with plans
to mine rocks rich in battery metals that blanket vast swathes
of the seabed. Mining in international waters may not begin
until regulations are agreed at the International Seabed
Authority (ISA), a Jamaica-based U.N. body.
An estimated 22 to 30 cetacean species, including endangered
blue whales, can be found in the Clarion Clipperton Zone, an
ocean region in the northern Pacific, where the ISA has granted
17 seabed mining exploration licences.
"The sounds produced from mining operations, including from
remotely operated vehicles on the sea floor, overlap with the
frequencies at which cetaceans communicate," said the study,
published in Frontiers in Marine Science.
Mining is likely to produce noise across a range of
frequencies that could travel hundreds of kilometres, the study
said, interfering with marine mammals' ability to navigate using
echolocation and disrupting the messages they send via whale
song.
Previous research on ocean noise has found whales can suffer
negative effects. One study found man-made noise could increase
the risk of humpback whale mothers being separated from their
calves, because their normal vocalisations are quiet.
"Far-from-sight impacts on cetaceans could go largely
unquantified and unnoticed, along with those on other pelagic
predator species that rely on deep ocean areas, including
sharks," the authors wrote.
The ISA will host international negotiations in March and
July this year as it works towards a July deadline to finalise
regulations.
(Reporting by Helen Reid Edit; Editing by William Mallard)
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