"Ocean noise afflicts whales, dolphins
ROME - The songs that whales and dolphins use to communicate, orient themselves, and find mates are being drowned out by human-made noises in the world's oceans, UN officials and environmental groups said yesterday.
That sound pollution - everything from increasing commercial shipping and seismic surveys to a new generation of military sonar - is not only confounding the mammals, it also is further threatening their survival.
Studies show that these cetaceans, which once communicated over thousands of miles to forage and mate, are losing touch with each other, the specialists said on the sidelines of a UN wildlife conference in Rome.
"Call it a cocktail-party effect," said Mark Simmonds, director of the Britain-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. "You have to speak louder and louder until no one can hear each other anymore."
Yeah, I'm sure it is a REAL PARTY for those animals that have no idea what the hell is going on and are becoming confused!
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