Minimizing Impacts of Human-generated Sound on Marine Life

A critical part of BOEM’s mission is to protect the environment while ensuring the safe 

development of traditional and renewable offshore energy and marine mineral resources on more 

than 1.7 billion acres of U.S. federal waters. With 

about 200 environmental staff members, including 

specialists in marine biology, ecology, and acoustics, 

BOEM works tirelessly to produce and evaluate the 

best available science in all of our management 

decisions. Through research and environmental 

reviews, BOEM has played a key role in improving 

the overall scientific understanding of the potential 

effects of anthropogenic, or human-generated, sound. 

BOEM has also played an important role in 

furthering the concept of adaptive management by

implementing a resource and environmental 

management strategy that constantly adjusts to 

evolving information and needs. Since 1998, BOEM 

has invested more than $50 million on protected 

species and sound-related research, including marine 

mammals. 

The Context for Understanding Sound in the 

Marine Environment

Once considered silent, the seas are now known to be 

alive with sounds. Some sounds are from natural 

sources, such as storms, earthquakes, waves and 

marine animals that produce and use sound to 

communicate and learn about their environment. 

Other sounds come from anthropogenic sources, such 

as shipping, energy development, military activities, 

construction, commercial fishing, and recreational

activities. When these anthropogenic sounds are

unwanted, they are often referred to as ‘noise.’

As human presence in the offshore environment has grown, so have the anthropogenic sound

levels. Current science shows us that some of these sounds may adversely impact marine life in 

certain situations. Some sounds can interrupt important biological behaviors (courtship, nursing, 

feeding and migration) and mask communication between animals. In more extreme instances, 

exposures to high levels or extended periods of sound can lead to physiological effects, including 

Managing Adaptively

Understanding potential impacts of 

human-induced sound on marine life 

is complex. Given some of the 

uncertainty related to the current 

scientific understanding of impacts, 

BOEM’s course of action is to 

implement an adaptive management 

approach that: (1) uses our 

environmental assessments to 

identify information needs, then (2) 

addresses those needs through 

scientific research. Research results 

from BOEM studies, as well as other 

available research results, are then 

applied to future reviews of offshore 

resource development projects. 

Decisions can then align with 

BOEM’s environmental stewardship 

responsibilities as well as 

requirements under a suite of 

environmental laws (e.g., 

Endangered Species Act, National 

Environmental Policy Act, Marine 

Mammal Protection Act, MagnusonStevens Fishery Conservation and 

Management Act). 
hearing loss and mortality. Research shows that the same level of sound may have different 

levels of impact on marine life depending where in the ocean the sound occurs. Further, 

individuals of the same species can react to sound differently in different situations.

Balancing human activities with the protection of marine life can be a difficult task, but BOEM 

is using the best science available as it approaches all of its management decisions. While 

debates on best practices remain and opinions on the path forward are diverse, BOEM will 

continue to implement strict mitigation and monitoring measures to help protect marine life from 

the impacts of energy and marine mineral-related ocean sounds. BOEM also remains steadfastly 

committed to funding and supporting the science needed to better understand anthropogenic 

sounds and their impacts on marine life. BOEM is also dedicated to using adaptive management 

for this complicated issue, so that our approaches evolve as our understanding expands and the 

science matures.

BOEM-Funded Sound-Related Research

BOEM was one of the earliest federal pioneers in sponsoring research on ocean sounds. BOEM’s 

first sound-related studies began in the early 1980s and explored effects of industrial sounds on 

large whale species in the Pacific Ocean. Similar studies involving seals and sea lions began in 

the late 1980s. During the 1990s, BOEM co-funded early scientific reviews on sound by the 

National Academy of Sciences and the 1995 book Marine Mammals and Noise (W. John 

Richardson, et al., Academic Press, 579 pp). BOEM also funded ground-breaking controlled 

exposure experiments on behavioral responses of sperm whales to air gun sounds in the Gulf of 

Mexico and humpback whales in Australia. Present day research focuses on fish bioacoustics;

sound field mapping; ambient noise measurements; methods to detect, classify and locate marine 

life near sound sources; improvements in mitigation; quieting technologies; and effects of sound

on prey species. Along with our many federal and academic partners, BOEM has begun to 

examine the even more complex issue of cumulative effects from chronic exposure to 

anthropogenic sounds. 

Selected Workshops

BOEM also partners with diverse stakeholders to share information and ideas on science needs 

as well as best management practices, often in the form of workshops, such as: 

 

• Marine Mammals and Sound Workshop 

(http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/acoustics/mm_sound_workshop_report.pdf) 

• Effects of Noise on Fish, Fisheries, and Invertebrates in the U.S. Atlantic and Arctic from 

Energy Industry Sound-Generating Activities Workshop

(http://www.data.boem.gov/PI/PDFImages/ESPIS/5/5361.pdf)

• Cetacean and Sound Mapping Project and Symposium 

(http://cetsound.noaa.gov/report.html)

• Quieting Technologies for Reducing Noise During Seismic Surveying and Pile Driving

Workshop

(http://www.data.boem.gov/PI/PDFImages/ESPIS/5/5377.pdf).

Click here for Select Sound-Related Studies funded and co-funded by BOEM.

updated January 2015