Wow, as someone who’s particularly sensitive to noise this was almost unbearable to read. I knew it was bad, I didn’t know how bad. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about noise recently as it’s baby season and I’ve been with the corvids a lot. Baby Jackdaws scream when they’re about to be fed, literally scream, it’s like something from a horror film and the screams reach up to 90 decibels. So when I have my head and upper torso inside a bay with two or more screaming babies inside, the volume is such that if you asked me my own name I literally couldn’t tell you. I only share that because it’s making my heart ache even more for our ocean kin. Thank you for the work you’re doing here, Jason. It is so vitally important.
Thank you, Chloe. I'm still as disturbed by the research now as I was three years ago when I first wrote this series. Reworking the material now has only intensified my sense of the oceans as a place where sound is sacred, and where we are oblivious to our violence.
I can imagine the volume of your baby corvids, if only because I've been under a raven nest when the young could be heard a mile away. And I've spent far too much time in proximity to guinea hens when my mother included them in her backyard chicken flock. She still thinks they're cute and my ears still hurt… Do you wear ear protection?
Oof, oblivious violence. That’s exactly what it is, but gosh, what a phrase. There are ear defenders in the corvid unit but they have a habit of going missing so most of the time, no, though I take ear plugs when I remember because otherwise I leave my shift wondering if my ears are bleeding :)
To expand on your reference to the article about the increased shipping noise in the St. Lawrence Seaway, I'll just say that there's a real party going on in Ottawa right now. The current government is turbocharging extractive projects, trashing climate targets, and throwing endangered species into the tank. For sure, Canada is under threat from the US administration, but it's hard not to see all of this as a convenient situation in which to implement disaster capitalism/the shock doctrine: an excuse to do what a corporatist prime minister would want to do, anyway. (Interestingly, a major LNG project in BC is completely owned by Trump-adjacent investors.) There's pressure to lift the tanker ban off the BC coast; surely that would also increase ocean noise, not to mention increase the risk of catastrophic oil spills. It just never ends....
So sorry to hear it, Erica. Just when I was thinking of scouring family history for a Canadian ancestor... For what it's worth, I'm finally coming to believe that while we live in an era of "it never ends", some of it will end, and sooner than we think. These new oil and gas extractive projects won't have big markets waiting for them. These are the last desperate flailings of an alpha industry (and its henchmen) that sees its downfall coming. They'll hurt the world as much as necessary to squeeze out more profits, but they're rapidly becoming as irrelevant as they are harmful. I wouldn't call it good news, exactly, but it's something.
It is a hard story, Leah, but an important one. And there's so much that can be done to ameliorate the noise, without too much effort. And there are hopeful signs.
Wow, as someone who’s particularly sensitive to noise this was almost unbearable to read. I knew it was bad, I didn’t know how bad. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about noise recently as it’s baby season and I’ve been with the corvids a lot. Baby Jackdaws scream when they’re about to be fed, literally scream, it’s like something from a horror film and the screams reach up to 90 decibels. So when I have my head and upper torso inside a bay with two or more screaming babies inside, the volume is such that if you asked me my own name I literally couldn’t tell you. I only share that because it’s making my heart ache even more for our ocean kin. Thank you for the work you’re doing here, Jason. It is so vitally important.
Thank you, Chloe. I'm still as disturbed by the research now as I was three years ago when I first wrote this series. Reworking the material now has only intensified my sense of the oceans as a place where sound is sacred, and where we are oblivious to our violence.
I can imagine the volume of your baby corvids, if only because I've been under a raven nest when the young could be heard a mile away. And I've spent far too much time in proximity to guinea hens when my mother included them in her backyard chicken flock. She still thinks they're cute and my ears still hurt… Do you wear ear protection?
Oof, oblivious violence. That’s exactly what it is, but gosh, what a phrase. There are ear defenders in the corvid unit but they have a habit of going missing so most of the time, no, though I take ear plugs when I remember because otherwise I leave my shift wondering if my ears are bleeding :)
To expand on your reference to the article about the increased shipping noise in the St. Lawrence Seaway, I'll just say that there's a real party going on in Ottawa right now. The current government is turbocharging extractive projects, trashing climate targets, and throwing endangered species into the tank. For sure, Canada is under threat from the US administration, but it's hard not to see all of this as a convenient situation in which to implement disaster capitalism/the shock doctrine: an excuse to do what a corporatist prime minister would want to do, anyway. (Interestingly, a major LNG project in BC is completely owned by Trump-adjacent investors.) There's pressure to lift the tanker ban off the BC coast; surely that would also increase ocean noise, not to mention increase the risk of catastrophic oil spills. It just never ends....
Thanks for another very useful essay.
So sorry to hear it, Erica. Just when I was thinking of scouring family history for a Canadian ancestor... For what it's worth, I'm finally coming to believe that while we live in an era of "it never ends", some of it will end, and sooner than we think. These new oil and gas extractive projects won't have big markets waiting for them. These are the last desperate flailings of an alpha industry (and its henchmen) that sees its downfall coming. They'll hurt the world as much as necessary to squeeze out more profits, but they're rapidly becoming as irrelevant as they are harmful. I wouldn't call it good news, exactly, but it's something.
Yeah, I agree. It's just all such a waste.
Good luck finding your ancestor---we're not *all* bad! :)
One quick follow up: For an interesting and optimistic perspective on where energy is going, check out this podcast from Volts (or anything from them): https://www.volts.wtf/p/giving-clean-electricity-a-political
Thank you for calling attention to the horrible, destructive and heartbreaking undersea noise. It’s so much worse than I’d imagined.
It is a hard story, Leah, but an important one. And there's so much that can be done to ameliorate the noise, without too much effort. And there are hopeful signs.
Much appreciate the work you are doing.