Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have cleared a regulatory hurdle in their effort to resume measurements of ocean temperature by sending sound waves through the water. The state Board of Land and Natural Resources has given the University
Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography have cleared a regulatory hurdle in their effort to resume measurements of ocean temperature by sending sound waves through the water.
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources has given the University of California-San Diego-affiliated institute permission to use equipment it left underwater off Kaua’i in 1999 after two years of preliminary experiments.
Researchers plan to transmit sound underwater every four days, with six transmittals of 20 minutes per day for all but two months of the year.
Some environmentalists have questioned whether the so-called “boom box” experiments are harmful to humpback whales and other marine mammals. Public meetings on Kaua’i to discuss the issue, including one earlier this year in Lihu’e, have produced mostly negative comments about the project from island residents.
As part of its state permit, the Scripps Institution has agreed to pay for eight aerial observations each year of the five-year experiment to document whether the sounds disturb the animals.
Researchers say the preliminary experiments did not appear to alter whale behavior. Critics have disputed those findings.
Principal investigator Peter Worcester said he is optimistic that the institute will receive approval for the experiment from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility on Kaua’i by the end of the year.
The board of Land and Natural Resources issued its approval of the project last Friday.
Worcester said the new data on ocean temperatures collected by sound measurements will be combined with information about climate change gathered by satellite and other methods.
On the Net: Scripps Institution of Oceanography: http://www.sio.ucsd.edu
