It is well known that noise pollution in water, from activities such as offshore drilling, cargo transportation, industrial fishing and recreational boating, has an impact on marine mammals, but new research has supported previous thoughts that it can also affect cephlapods, that is squids, octopus and cuttlefish. In fact, the impact is so severe it may cause stranding and even death.
"This is the first study indicating a severe impact on invertebrates, an extended group of marine species that are not known to rely on sound for living," says Michel André, Technical University of Catalonia in Barcelona, in a press release.
Four species of cephlapod were subjected to low and high frequency sounds for two hours, and the effects of the noise on the invertebrates was dramatic. Damage was found in the statocysts, which are sensory organs that balance the cephalopods. Inside the statocysts hair cells had ruptured, nerve fibers had swelled, and, in the worst cases, even suffered lesions that continued to grow larger hours after exposure. The results have devastating implications, given the relatively low frequencies used during the experiment compared to the level of noise pollution found in the ocean.
The statocyst plays such an important role in cephlapod behaviour, regulating balance and spatial orientation, in the wild, damage to this area affects a cephlapods ability to hunt, evade predators and reproduce, which would lead to almost certain death.
Of course, as André points out, this asks more questions than it answers, if noise pollution can affect marine mammals and now cephlapods, what does this mean for the rest of the marine web? How much damage is being caused?
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