The steady drone of motors along busy commercial shipping lanes not
only alters whale behavior but can affect the giant sea mammals
physically by causing chronic stress, a study published Wednesday has
reported for the first time.
The findings were made possible, researchers said, by an event that
at first glance seems far removed from the plight of cetaceans: the
attacks on New York’s Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.
Only a catastrophe of that magnitude, they explained, could have
caused maritime traffic to suddenly drop off, making it possible to
measure the impact of varying levels of sound pollution in the sea.
