Navigation Links
Turning down the dial: Ocean energy development with less sound
Date:6/21/2012

SEQUIM, Wash. The rise of ocean infrastructure development to tap energy sources such as tides, offshore wind and natural gas will require more pile driving, the practice of pounding long, hollow steel pipes called piles into the ocean floor to support energy turbines and other structures. But pile driving creates loud, underwater booms that can harm fish and other marine animals.

Many scientists and regulators have assumed that limiting the combined amount of sound created during the course of a pile driving project can minimize harm to animals. But new research published in PLoS ONE indicates that if an individual blow to a pile rises above a particular sound level, fish can be irreparably harmed. The finding has led scientists to recommend the first-ever sound threshold for pile driving that is based on actual fish responses instead of estimates. It's hoped that regulators will use the threshold to help evaluate pile driving project applications.

"Our results can help regulators permit ocean development while also protecting marine life," said bioacoustician Michele Halvorsen, who led the research for Battelle, which manages the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. "This is the first research that used controlled laboratory tests to reliably measure the affects of pile driving on fish."

Halvorsen conducts research at PNNL's Marine Sciences Laboratory in Sequim, Wash.

Under pressure

Hitting a steel pile with a large hammer produces sound that causes water pressure changes that impact fish. Sudden changes in water pressure can cause gases such as oxygen to come out of fish blood faster than normal, leading to a decompression sickness much like the bends that divers experience when they rise to the surface too fast. Pressure changes also affect a fish's swim bladder, an internal, air-filled sac that helps the fish maintain weightlessness at different water depths. Alternating pressure changes cause the sw
'/>"/>

Contact: Franny Whtie
franny.white@pnnl.gov
509-375-6904
DOE/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Source:Eurekalert  

0

GOOD

Page: 1 2 3 4

Related biology news :

1. Turning off small RNA
2. NOAA scholarship awarded to Jan Vicente to study the impact of ocean acidification on marine sponges
3. Stanford researchers help predict the oceans of the future with a mini-lab
4. JRC and US NOAA enhance cooperation on climate, weather, oceans and coasts
5. New study by WHOI scientists provides baseline measurements of carbon in Arctic Ocean
6. Latest Southern Ocean research shows continuing deep ocean change
7. Plastic trash altering ocean habitats, Scripps study shows
8. First satellite tag study for manta rays reveals habits and hidden journeys of ocean giants
9. Scientists provide first large-scale estimate of reef shark losses in the Pacific Ocean
10. Wind pushes plastics deeper into oceans, driving trash estimates up
11. Ocean acidification linked to larval oyster failure
Post Your Comments:
*Name:
*Comment:
*Email:
Related Image:
Turning down the dial: Ocean energy development with less sound
(Date:5/16/2013)... SPARTANBURG, S.C. , May 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ ... film in combination with a custom thin film ...  the highest forensic quality roll image in the ... market today. Sherlock, an Appendix F Mobile ID ... provides a 95% reduction in size and weight ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... the bone marrow in the liver, the spleen ... show that a specific type of immune cell facilitates ... hematopoiesis is essential for the function of the immune ... the liver and the spleen. Later the process is ... serves as the sole source of blood cells for ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... conservationist working in Cameroon and the manager of San ... awarded the prestigious Whitley award. The Whitley award ... Green Oscars" because it celebrates the extraordinary achievements of ... countries. Abwe was selected for the award due ... Ebo Forest and its wildlife inhabitants., HRH The Princess ...
Breaking Biology News(10 mins):Herpes infections: Natural killer cells activate hematopoiesis 2Cameroon researcher wins prestigious 'Green Oscar' 2Cameroon researcher wins prestigious 'Green Oscar' 3
... 2008 American Society for Microbiology (ASM) sanofi-aventis U.S. ... Director, WWAMI Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense ... by an unrestricted grant from sanofi-aventis U.S., this ... Through his professional life, Dr. Stamm has worked ...
... (Washington, D.C. July 14, 2008) EPA has released ... Criteria." This is EPA,s latest evaluation of the ... resulting from exposures to oxides of nitrogen, particularly nitrogen ... data, particularly epidemiological studies, since the last scientific review ...
... 2008 The outlook for air quality in Beijing during ... government can do to improve it. That,s the ... who analyzed pollution data collected regularly for the last five ... component and a regional component to the pollutants that cause ...
Cached Biology News:URI researcher: China can't fully fix air quality problem for Olympics 2
(Date:5/17/2013)... May 17, 2013 Tooth decay is an ... active signs of the disease. The World Health Organization says ... 100% of adults have cavities. What are the long-term effects ... showing a strong connection between the oral bacterial imbalance and ... disease so rampant, yet it is also 100% preventable? Answer: ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... Zealand (PRWEB) May 16, 2013 In late ... invited to speak to doctors in China about Appearance ... and NZ, this was her first trip to lecture in ... Hart visited Guangzhou and Fuzhou, home to 12 and 7 ... China is very high at this point in time. As ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... Ore. , May 16, 2013  HealthSparq, ... many of the nation,s largest regional health plans, ... America,s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) Institute 2013 conference ... highlight survey results showing how health insurance companies ... for the consumer and marketplace demands for increased ...
(Date:5/16/2013)... May 16, 2013 On average, developing ... over one billion dollars. Despite this investment, less than ... this high, is your clinical trial design optimally structured ... best outcomes? , Dr. Frederic Sax, Global Head of ... the use of data, information and technology in upfront ...
Breaking Biology Technology:Seeing the Future: How a Revolutionary New Bacterial Screening Device Can Predict a Patient’s Future for Tooth Decay 2Seeing the Future: How a Revolutionary New Bacterial Screening Device Can Predict a Patient’s Future for Tooth Decay 3HealthSparq to Reveal New Healthcare Transparency Benchmark Study at AHIP Institute 2013 2HealthSparq to Reveal New Healthcare Transparency Benchmark Study at AHIP Institute 2013 3Optimizing Clinical Trials Outcomes through Computer Assisted Design, New Life Science Webinar Hosted by Xtalks 2
... 2008 NFPA 1584 establishes the routine use of Pulse CO-Oximetry as a ... the dangers of CO ... Poisoning, ... and Measure-Through Motion and Low,Perfusion pulse oximetry, announced today that the National ...
... Endpoint for Phase 3 Registration Trial No Later Than ... ... Inc. (Nasdaq:,FVRL), a biopharmaceutical company developing patient-specific, active,immunotherapies for the treatment of ... 2007. For the quarter and year,ended December 31, 2007, the Company reported ...
... U.S. Department of Energy,s Ames ,Laboratory have come ... and distribute ,the massive amounts of data that ... the world. The new technology, a three-dimensional photonic ... multiple ,wavelength channels (wavelengths of light) traveling along ...
Cached Biology Technology:National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Sets New National Standard for CO Screening by Pulse CO-Oximetry(TM) 2National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Sets New National Standard for CO Screening by Pulse CO-Oximetry(TM) 3National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Sets New National Standard for CO Screening by Pulse CO-Oximetry(TM) 4Favrille Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 2Favrille Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 3Favrille Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 4Favrille Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 5Favrille Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 6Favrille Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 7Favrille Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 8Favrille Reports Fourth Quarter and Year End 2007 Financial Results 9New filter clears up fiber optic communications 2New filter clears up fiber optic communications 3
... allows the Thermo-Fast® 96 ... PCR plates to be ... PRISM® 3700 capillary sequencer. ... information on the software ...
Spectrolyse (pL) PAI kit is a two-stage indirect enzymatic assay for the quantitative determination of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor (PAI-1) activity in plasma. Sample Type: plasma...
Rabbit anti-CRSP1 (TRAP220), Polyclonal Antibody, Unconjugated Applications: Immunohistochemistry - 1:100 - 1:500...
... White lyophilized solid. PROTECT FROM LIGHT. PACKAGED ... of γ-secretase. Equipotently inhibits the release of ... 2.6 μM) and Aβ x-42 (ED ... cells stably transfected with the Amyloid Precursor ...
Biology Products: