3 ms·
It a good bit lower than the energy level of a typical marine seismic airgun array which puts out (according to this source [0]) 243-249 dB re 1 mPa-m. [0] htt
by doodlebugging 4y ago
It a good bit lower than the energy level of a typical marine seismic airgun array which puts out (according to this source [0]) 243-249 dB re 1 mPa-m.
[0] https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2010/01/marine-seismic-sources-part-i https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2010/01/marine-seismic-sou...
I agree that it sounds really obnoxiously loud though. There is a valid reason why marine seismic sources are tightly controlled and some have been banned. This makes old legacy data valuable for those companies that acquired before the bans.
- londons_explore 4y agoAnd even at these regulated levels, there are lots of claims that things like whale beachings are caused by them... It's orders of magnitude higher than natural ocean sounds.
- doodlebugging 4y agoThat's true. It is very loud. I believe today that crews must have biologists on board monitoring marine mammal activity in the area and that acquisition must stop when animals enter the area. There are also seasonal prohibitions on activity in most areas to allow mating and calving. This is not enough and it doesn't address the louder sounds from submarine communications which are most likely to be the reason for most mammal groundings today. It is better than it was in the 70's and 80's though. People learned and they adapted, though not always willingly.