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The final programme for the meeting is now available and can be downloaded here.
Registration Closed - We are no longer accepting registrations.
Meeting Background
We have organized a Second International Conference on the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. The first conference on this topic was held in Nyborg, Denmark in August 2007. It brought together more than 250 scientists, regulators and industry representatives from over 40 countries for discussions on how to address the potential impacts of underwater noise. The proceedings of the conference were subsequently published in a special issue of Bioacoustics. (Hawkins, A., Popper, A. N., and Wahlberg, M. (eds.) (2008). International Conference on the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life. Bioacoustics, 17:1-350.)
The Second International Conference on the Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life will take place in Ireland August 15-20, 2010, with over 170 talks and posters on a wide range of topics. As before, the main emphasis of the conference is on defining the current state of knowledge. However, we will also assess progress in the three years since the First conference. The Second conference will place strong emphasis on recent research results, the sharing of ideas, discussion of experimental approaches, and analysis of regulatory issues.
The premise of these meetings is that sound is important for many aquatic organisms, including marine mammals, fish, and some invertebrates. Sound is used for communicating, navigating, seeking out prey and avoiding predators. Hearing is an everyday sense, detecting the many changes that are taking place around the animal. The goal of the conference is to draw together new knowledge on the importance of underwater sound to animals and to the effects of sounds upon them, whether those sounds occur naturally, are made by the animals themselves, or result from human activities.
A wide range of sources of underwater sound will be discussed at the conference, including those generated by explosions, ships, seismic exploration, offshore construction, sonars of various types, acoustic deterrent devices and of course sounds made by aquatic animals themselves.
A wide range of interests will be brought together by the conference and we hope to encourage discussion of the impact of underwater sound, its regulation, and mitigation of its effects.
An Advisory Committee is providing direction and assistance in developing the program for the conference.
A volume of extended will published by the international publisher Springer.
Please CLICK HERE to download a Promotional Poster