Noise

Sound generated during the construction or operation of a device.

During the construction of wind energy or marine renewable energy devices, substantial noise levels can be produced by vessel or vehicle traffic and installation activities (e.g., pile driving, cable burial). Operation of these devices may additionally produce low levels of noise from the rotation of turbine blades, movement of floating devices on the surface, or strumming of mooring lines and cables. Measures to reduce noise impacts in the marine environment include the use of bubble curtains during pile driving and careful siting and timing of construction activities to avoid species’ critical migration routes and times.

Sound propagates farther and faster in water than in air, which can result in greater consequences for the marine environment. Coupled with the many other sources of anthropogenic noise in the marine environment (e.g., ships, seismic studies), the noise from offshore wind and marine renewable energy devices may impact many marine species. Noise may interfere with marine organisms’ communication, navigation, detection of prey, and ability to interact with their environment, as well as causing attraction to or avoidance of devices. Additionally, some marine organisms may be physically harmed from excessive noise exposure (e.g., tissue and nerve damage).

For more information relevant to marine energy, check out the Underwater Noise Short Science Summary produced by OES Environmental.

For more information relevant to offshore wind energy, check out the Underwater Noise Effects on Marine Life research brief produced by SEER.

Affiliated Marine and Wind Energy Environmental Documents

Total results: 1273
Title Author Date Content Type Technology Stressor Receptor
Early Research Efforts at the Navy's Wave Energy Test Site Cross, P., Rocheleau, R., Vega, L. Conference Paper Marine Energy, Wave Changes in Flow, EMF, Noise
Acoustic characterization of submarine cable installation in the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (bimep) Bald, J., Hernández, C., Uriarte, A. Presentation Marine Energy, Wave Noise
Hywind Scotland Pilot Park Project Marine Noise Desk Study Xodus Group Report Wind Energy, Floating Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals
The Underwater Sound Field from Impact Pile Driving and Its Potential Effects on Marine Life Dahl, P., de Jong, C., Popper, A. Magazine Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Marine Energy Noise Marine Mammals, Fish
Framework for Assessing Ecological and Cumulative Effects of Offshore Wind Farms: Cumulative Effects of Impulsive Underwater Sound on Marine Mammals Heinis, F., de Jong, C. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals, Pinnipeds
Practical Management of Cumulative Anthropogenic Impacts with Working Marine Examples Wright, A., Kyhn, L. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind, Marine Energy Noise Ecosystem Processes
Information gaps in understanding the effects of noise on fishes and invertebrates Hawkins, A., Pembroke, A., Popper, A. Journal Article Noise Invertebrates, Fish
Optimising Array Form for Energy Extraction and Environmental Benefit (EBAO) Smith, H. Report Marine Energy Noise Ecosystem Processes
A GIS-Multicriteria Approach to Analyzing Noise and Visual Impacts of Wind Farms Fang, B. Thesis Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Noise Visual Impacts, Human Dimensions
Disturbance Effects on the Harbour Porpoise Population in the North Sea (DEPONS): Status report on model development van Beest, F., Nabe-Nielsen, J., Carstensen, J. Report Fixed Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals
Cetacean Noise Criteria Revisited in the Light of Proposed Exposure Limits for Harbour Porpoises Tougaard, J., Wright, A., Madsen, P. Journal Article Noise Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Auditory Recognition of Familiar and Unfamiliar Subjects with Wind Turbine Noise Maffei, L., Masullo, M., Di Gabriele, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Noise Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
Understanding the Evidence: Wind Turbine Noise Council of Canadian Academies Report Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Noise
Estimation of Acoustic Particle Motion and Source Bearing Using a Drifting Hydrophone Array Near a River Current Turbine to Assess Disturbances to Fish Murphy, P. Thesis Marine Energy, Riverine Noise Fish, Pelagic Fish
Adaptable Monitoring Package (AMP) Polagye, B., Stewart, A., Joslin, J. Research Study Marine Energy, Tidal, Wave Attraction, Avoidance, Collision, Displacement, Noise Birds, Fish, Invertebrates, Marine Mammals, Physical Environment
Baseline Bioacoustic Characterization for Offshore Renewable Energy Development in the North Carolina and Georgia Wind Planning Areas Rice, A., Morano, J., Hodge, K. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise Fish, Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Grey Seals use Anthropogenic Signals from Acoustic Tags to Locate Fish: Evidence from a Simulated Foraging Task Stansbury, A., Götz, T., Deecke, V. Journal Article Noise Marine Mammals, Pinnipeds
Effect of pile-driving sound on the survival of fish larvae Bolle, L., de Jong, C., Blom, E. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise Pelagic Fish, Fish
Health Effects Related to Wind Turbine Noise Exposure: A Systematic Review Schmidt, J., Klokker, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind Noise Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
Dynamic Measurements of Pile Deflections as a Source of Underwater Sound Emissions during Impact Driving of Offshore Pile Foundations Kuhn, C., Sychla, H., Stein, P. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise
New Achievements in Underwater Noise Modelling for Offshore Pile Driving Trimoreau, B., Lutzen, R., Kringelum, J. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise
Hydro Sound Measurements during the Installation of Large Diameter Offshore Piles using Combinations of Independent Noise Mitigation Systems Burns, B., Stein, P., Kuhn, C. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise
New Hydro Sound Dampers to Reduce Piling Underwater Noise Elmer, K., Savery, J. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise
The New Noise Mitigation System 'Hydro Sound Dampers': History of Development with Several Hydro Sound and Vibration Measurements Burns, B., Kuhn, C., Stein, P. Conference Paper Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise
Assessing the Influence of Inflow Turbulence on Noise and Performance of a Tidal Turbine using Large Eddy Simulations Lloyd, T., Turnock, S., Humphrey, V. Journal Article Marine Energy, Tidal Noise
Social survey on wind turbine noise in Japan Kuwano, S., Yano, T., Kageyama, T. Journal Article Wind Energy Noise Human Dimensions, Social & Economic Data
The Vindication of Don Quixote: The Impact of Noise and Visual Pollution from Wind Turbines Jensen, C., Panduro, T., Lundhede, T. Journal Article Wind Energy Noise Visual Impacts, Social & Economic Data, Human Dimensions
Evaluating and Assessing the Relative Effectiveness of Acoustic Deterrent Devices and other Non-Lethal Measures on Marine Mammals Coram, A., Gordon, J., Thompson, D. Report Avoidance, Noise Marine Mammals
Assessing the Underwater Acoustics of the World's Largest Vibration Hammer (OCTA-KONG) and Its Potential Effects on the Indo-Pacific Humpbacked Dolphin (Sousa chinensis) Wang, Z., Wu, Y., Duan, G. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
In Situ Mortality Experiments with Juvenile Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in Relation to Impulsive Sound Levels Caused by Pile Driving of Windmill Foundations Dubusschere, E., de Coensel, B., Bajek, A. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise Fish, Demersal Fish
The challenges and possible solutions of horizontal axis wind turbines as a clean energy solution for the future Ahmed, N., Cameron, M. Journal Article Wind Energy, Land-Based Wind, Fixed Offshore Wind Collision, Noise Bats, Birds
An International Assessment of the Environmental Effects of Marine Energy Development Copping, A., Battey, H., Brown-Saracino, J. Journal Article Marine Energy Attraction, Avoidance, Changes in Flow, Collision, Displacement, Noise Fish, Marine Mammals
Use of Static Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) for monitoring cetaceans at Marine Renewable Energy Installations (MREIs) for Marine Scotland Embling, C., Wilson, B., Benjamins, S. Guidance Marine Energy, Tidal, Wave, Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals, Cetaceans
Marine Mammals and Ocean Noise: Future Directions and Information Needs with Respect to Science, Policy and Law in Canada Williams, R., Ashe, E., Blight, L. Journal Article Noise Marine Mammals
Assessing Environmental Impacts of Offshore Wind Farms: Lessons Learned and Recommendations for the Future Bailey, H., Brookes, K., Thompson, P. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise, Displacement, Collision, Avoidance, Attraction Marine Mammals, Ecosystem Processes, Birds
The Significance of Parameter Uncertainties for the Prediction of Offshore Pile Driving Noise Lippert, T., von Estorff, O. Journal Article Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise
Hearing frequencies of a harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) temporarily affected by played back offshore pile driving sounds Kastelein, R., Gransier, R., Marijt, M. Report Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals
Marine Mammals of British Columbia Current Status, Distribution and Critical Habitats Ford, J., Nichol, L. Presentation Wind Energy, Fixed Offshore Wind Noise Marine Mammals, Cetaceans, Pinnipeds
Anthropogenic noise playback impairs embryonic development and increases mortality in a marine invertebrate Nedelec, S., Radford, A., Simpson, S. Journal Article Noise Invertebrates
Sound Exposure Guidelines for Fishes and Sea Turtles Popper, A., Hawkins, A., Fay, R. Report Noise Fish, Reptiles, Sea Turtles
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