LINDY WEILGART

Lindy Weilgart currently a research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology in Seewiesen, Germany, analyzing the vocal repertoires of birds. She is also an honorary research associate in the Biology Dept., Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She did her M.Sc. (1985) at Memorial University of Newfoundland studying pilot whale vocalizations and behavior, and her Ph.D. (1990) at Dalhousie University researching the sounds of sperm whales off the Galapagos Islands. Weilgart's post-doc (1992-1994) was at Cornell University's Bioacoustics Research Program, though one year of this time was spent almost entirely at sea, studying sperm whale dialects of the South Pacific. While at Cornell, she became concerned about the ATOC program and its possible effects on marine life, especially whales. This program, together with LFA sonar, has led me to spend much of my time raising awareness about the dangers of undersea noise pollution.

ABSTRACT

"Objections to the ATOC and LFA sonar programs and suggestions for future protocols." The effects of loud sounds on marine life, particularly marine mammals, has become an important issue. I am particularly concerned about those sources of noise that have a large scale of potential impact over both space and time (i.e., ocean basin-wide over several years), such as the ATOC or LFA sonar programs. Marine mammal research programs are unable to detect the most meaningful and biologically significant, long-term potential effects of noise on most marine mammal populations. I therefore propose, following the Precautionary Principle, that noise polluters fully justify their projects, design them to minimize harm (by avoiding biologically rich areas and concentrations of marine mammals, making their sounds as quiet as possible, etc.) and provide funds to independent agencies to sponsor non-aligned research into undersea noise pollution.