Researchers from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland have developed new equipment that can measure underwater noise generated by vessels. The underwater radiated noise (URN) created by the military, oil and gas industry, and shipping traffic poses danger to marine life.
In 2018, the United Nations at its Convention of Migratory Species addressed the issue and called for more development and research on the consequences of the URN.
It also requested the countries to decrease ocean noise where possible. Called HyDrone, the new equipment is a waterproof aerial drone fitted with a SoundTrap hydrophone recorder, which can measure the URN produced by the propulsion systems of marine craft.
The equipment has been developed by professors Patrick Fitzsimmons and Mehmet Atlar of the Department of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Marine Engineering (NAOME).
With the SoundTrap hydrophone suspended below, HyDrone can land and float in the sea. Professor Mehmet Atlar said: “Like carbon emission, increasing emission of URN from ever-growing commercial shipping traffic in the world’s ocean has become a life-threatening danger to living mammal and fish whose communications, feeding, breeding, and day-to-day affairs are adversely affected by URN emission.
