By Alton Parrish (Reporter)
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“The ocean ambient sound gives us clues to the physical processes going on, but it also is an important aspect of the environment in which marine mammals and fish live. Like teenagers at a loud rock concert, the seals and whales modify their behavior depending on the ambient sound levels,” said Erin Pettit, a glaciologist from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Department of Geosciences.
Pettit conducted the study with researchers from the University of Texas at Austin; the University of Washington, Seattle; and the United States Geological Survey.

Researchers deploy a hydrophone into Icy Bay, Alaska. Scientists used the underwater microphones to listen and record the average noise levels in three bays in Alaska and Antarctica whose fjords have glaciers that flow into the ocean. They found that the noisiest places in the ocean are where glaciers in fjords melt into the saltwater.

Credit: Jeffrey Nystuen.

The team used underwater microphones to listen and record the average noise levels in three bays whose fjords have glaciers that flow into the ocean – Icy Bay, Alaska; Yakutat Bay, Alaska; and Andvord Bay, Antarctica. All of the fjords have many icebergs where chunks of the glacier fell or calved into the water.

The researchers found that the average underwater noise level in these fjords was higher than any other source of ocean noise that has been measured so far including noise from weather, the movement and communication of fish, and human-generated noise from shipping and sonar devices. The team measured noise levels between 300 and 20,000 Hz, which is most of a human’s hearing range.

Glacier calving contributed to some of the noise, but the loud sounds were short-lived. When looking at overall noise levels for a long period of time, Pettit said it was the consistent melting of ice from the glacier and its icebergs that was the real noise generator. This is because the air trapped within the glacier ice escapes rapidly as it melts into saltwater, forming bubbles in the water that pop as they pinch off from the ice.

Pettit said their findings raise questions about how the underwater noise in the fjords will affect animals as climate change first increases the rate at which glaciers melt into the ocean water and then stops the process altogether as the glaciers shrink and retreat onto land.

Near surface audio recording in Icy Bay, Alaska 

Deeper water audio recording in Andvord Bay, Antarctica

Credit: Erin Pettit

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