In a study that is about the comparison between humans and seals and the effects of noise pollution, researchers have an observation that deaf seals are prevalent along the busy shipping routes of the United Kingdom. The loss of hearing at a temporal period for seals is a cause that had scientists worrying about as the seals' communication instincts may disrupt the system of their constant underwater signals with other marine creatures.
Not only deaf seals with hearing senses are affected but also dolphins, killer whales and other marine mammals littering close to land. The gray and harbor seals were the specific species affected by the din that these shipping routes create. Although the team of researchers said that the hearing loss is temporary, constant exposure to such noise pollutants will damage the senses of hearing of these poor creatures, reports The Guardian.
Lead author of the study, Esther Jones had their study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology. Their study shows that out of 28 seals exposed to the pollution of noise in the busy shipping routes, 20 deaf seals were confirmed to have been affected by a temporary loss of hearing to serious. She added that the noise emitted by the passage of vessels through the busy shipping routes and the frequency emitted is high enough to damage the hearing of the seals.
The Saint Andrews University lead author further explained that dolphins and seals communicate with one another in search of food. But with the hearing impairment the busy shipping routes caused, the mammals are off-sync in what they mostly do to survive. 11 out of 25 areas are found to have deaf seals linked to the busy shipping routes, reports BBC News.
Although there are areas of conservation for these marine mammals, the urbanization of these areas is continuously growing that puts the animals in peril. Researchers are now evaluating the deaf seals' observation in order to understand further the implications of their hearing damage to their population and habitat.
