Canada sets interim ocean-noise benchmark that may lock in current sound levels for endangered orcas
The Canadian government announced an interim standard that uses 2023 ocean-noise levels as a benchmark, a move critics say could cement a noisy habitat for the critically endangered Southern Resident orcas.
Canada’s government, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, is proposing an interim ocean-noise objective that will compare future sound levels to the average recorded in 2023 across ten monitoring stations in the Southern Resident orca habitat. Critics, including cetacean researcher Valeria Vergara, say the approach merely locks in a noisy environment that already endangers the genetically distinct population of 76 whales in the Salish Sea and Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Shipping noise has risen sharply, with hydroacoustic data from Boundary Pass indicating a 5.1-decibel increase above natural conditions in 2023 versus 3.4 decibels in 2017, halving the whales’ quiet periods. The benchmark will use broadband sound pressure levels (10-100,000 Hz) but will not set a fixed decibel ceiling. Existing measures, such as the ECHO program’s voluntary ship slowdowns, have reduced intensity by 50 percent in some zones, yet advocates argue more aggressive reductions are needed as new projects like the Pacific Link oil pipeline promise further traffic growth. The proposal adds to recent mandatory seasonal slowdowns in key feeding areas, but scientists stress that without lowering the baseline, the species faces extinction.
Why it matters
Locking in current noise levels could prevent effective protection of an endangered whale population facing extinction.
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