Squid and Octopuses Experience Massive Acoustic Trauma from Noise Pollution in the Oceans

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110411111032.htm

ScienceDaily (Apr. 11, 2011) — Noise pollution in the oceans has been shown to cause physical and behavioral changes in marine life, especially in dolphins and whales, which rely on sound for daily activities. However, low frequency sound produced by large scale, offshore activities is also suspected to have the capacity to cause harm to other marine life as well.

Giant squid, for example, were found along the shores of Asturias, Spain in 2001 and 2003 following the use of airguns by offshore vessels and examinations eliminated all known causes of lesions in these species, suggesting that the squid deaths could be related to excessive sound exposure.
Michel André, Technical University of Catalonia in Barcelona, and colleagues examined the effects of low frequency sound exposure -- similar to what the giant squid would have experienced in Asturias -- in four cephalopod species. As reported in an article published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, a journal of the Ecological Society of America, all of the exposed squid, octopus and cuttlefish exhibited massive acoustic trauma in the form of severe lesions in their auditory structures.

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