---
title: "The ocean is getting louder, and the whales are adjusting"
description: "Ten years of recordings from deep-sea microphones show shipping noise rising and whale songs shifting to fit around it."
date: 2026-11-03
section: "Science"
authors: ["Daniel Reyes"]
format: feature
tags: ["oceans","wildlife","sound"]
url: https://baselayer-blakey-sanity.pages.dev/news/deep-ocean-noise/
---

# The ocean is getting louder, and the whales are adjusting

Eight hundred meters below the surface, a microphone the size of a soda can has been listening for ten years. It hears the clicks of dolphins, the groan of shifting ice, and the songs of whales. Increasingly, it hears ships.

A research team has now analyzed a decade of recordings from a network of these underwater microphones, called hydrophones. Their findings: the deep ocean is measurably louder, and some whales appear to be changing how they sing.

## A rising hum

Most of the added noise comes from ship propellers, which produce a low, constant rumble that travels hundreds of kilometers underwater. As global shipping has grown, so has that background hum. At some sites, the low-frequency noise rose by several decibels over the decade.

That may not sound like much, but decibels are logarithmic. A small increase means a lot more acoustic energy in the water.

## Singing around the noise

Whales rely on sound to find food, navigate, and find each other. The recordings suggest some populations are adapting. Certain species are singing at slightly higher pitches, above the frequencies where ship noise is loudest. Others sing louder, or wait for quiet gaps.

> “It’s like trying to have a conversation at a party that keeps getting louder.”

That’s the comparison Dr. Lucía Montero, a marine acoustician on the team, uses. “You can raise your voice. You can move to a quieter corner. But it costs you something.”

## What it costs

Researchers don’t yet know the long-term effects. Singing louder takes energy. Shifting pitch may make songs travel shorter distances. If whales can’t hear each other over the same range, breeding populations could become more isolated.

## A fixable problem

Unlike many ocean threats, noise disappears the moment its source does. Studies have shown that ships traveling slightly slower produce much less noise, and save fuel. Quieter propeller designs exist.

The team plans to keep the microphones running for another decade. They hope the next recordings will capture something new: the ocean getting quieter.