1st International Conference on the Effects of Noise and Aquatic Life

The first conference, on the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life, was held in Nyborg, Denmark in August 2007. It brought together more than 250 scientists, regulators and industry representatives from over 40 countries for discussions on how to address the potential impacts of underwater noise. The proceedings of the conference were subsequently published in a special issue of Bioacoustics

The premise of the meetings is that sound is important for many aquatic organisms, including marine mammals, fish, and some invertebrates. Sound is used for communicating, navigating, seeking out prey and avoiding predators. Hearing is an everyday sense, detecting the many changes that are taking place around the animal. The goal of the conference is to draw together new knowledge on the importance of underwater sound to animals and to the effects of sounds upon them, whether those sounds occur naturally, are made by the animals themselves, or result from human activities.