Effect on Ocean Noise: Nyepi, a Balinese Day of Silence

Taking advantage of a religious holiday called Nyepi that curtailed human activities for one day, we recorded acoustic noise levels for one week in shallow waters of a little-trafficked area west of Bali below the Denpasar airport flight path (Figure 1). Sound is as important to many marine organism...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oceanography
Main Authors: Rob Williams, Christine Erbe, I Made Iwan Dewantama, Gede Hendrawan
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The Oceanography Society 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2018.207
https://doaj.org/article/4d8d0bbe1c254e95a38a483b5567888c
Description
Summary:Taking advantage of a religious holiday called Nyepi that curtailed human activities for one day, we recorded acoustic noise levels for one week in shallow waters of a little-trafficked area west of Bali below the Denpasar airport flight path (Figure 1). Sound is as important to many marine organisms as vision is to humans. From the song of the humpback whale to the exquisite sonar system of the killer whale, many marine vertebrates have evolved sophisticated systems for sending and receiving acoustic signals to facilitate vital life functions. Coral reef fish sing in a dawn chorus, much as songbirds do (McCauley and Cato, 2000).