Amsterdam, 9th December 2011. SAR member the North Sea Foundation has called for action on underwater noise – A growing problem that in some instances can threaten the very survival of marine life due to biological sounds needed for communication and orientation being drowned out.

Last month the North Sea Foundation, or otherwise known as Stichting De Noordzee (SDN), were present at a major offshore wind energy event in Amsterdam where they peformed a quick fire presentation and gave a 10 minute presentation on the need for action.

As part of their campaign ‘Sound Solutions’ the Dutch group are focusing on offshore wind energy and aim to reduce the negative effects associated with noise whilst doing so in a way that should not mean a delay to future offshore wind farm development.

Piling for offshore installations is one of the more intense sources of underwater noise and it is one of the main contributions to anthropogenic sound energy in the North Sea, along with shipping, seismic surveys (airguns) and underwater explosions.

For more information:

In another area of focus for the SDN on the subject of marine litter, the group presented their ‘I scrub plastic free’ petition to Dutch Member of the European Parliament Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy earlier this month.

The petition was only recently launched and has already achieved a huge response within the Netherlands.

The petition highlights the worrying fact that many personal hygiene products such as facial scrubs include small plastic grains and are ending up in the marine environment through discharged sewage water. SDN have found 90 products, even including some toothpastes and lip gloss contain plastics (polyethylene).

For more information