Charting A Course Toward Quieter Seas

As the push for offshore energy development intensifies across the Arctic, so do concerns about the impact of industrial noise on marine life and coastal communities. A newly released BOEM-supported report, Management of Marine Oil and Gas Associated Noise, outlines practical strategies to reduce the acoustic footprint of offshore operations in the circumpolar North.

Commissioned by the Arctic Council's Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment Working Group, the three-year study was led by the United Kingdom and the World Wide Fund for Nature, with funding and technical support from BOEM. The Bureau's Alaska OCS Region and its Office of Strategic Policy and International Affairs helped guide the effort, with Nuka Research and Planning Group conducting the research and analysis.

Why it matters

Energy, shipping and other noisy activity is expanding in high-latitude waters rich in oil, gas and critical minerals. Sound generated by seismic surveys, drilling and oil industry support vessels can mask the calls of whales, seals and fish-affecting navigation, feeding and, for Alaska communities, subsistence harvests. Reducing that noise helps maintain a healthy marine ecosystem.

Key findings

• Practical tools already exist. The report profiles more than two dozen technologies and operational measures - from marine mammal-sensitive ramp-up protocols to low-frequency air-gun alternatives - that can cut broadband noise at the source.
• Early planning pays off. Integrating quieting strategies into exploration plans reduces costs and schedule risk later in the life cycle.
• One size does not fit all. The most effective approach depends on ice cover, bathymetry, target reservoirs and seasonal wildlife presence.
• Guidance could level the field. Contributors agreed that Arctic-specific best-practice guidance would give regulators and industry a shared benchmark, ensuring consistent performance without discouraging innovation.

BOEM's contribution

• Provided seed funding and project management through the Alaska OCS Region's Office of Environment.
• Supplied decades of seismic and protected-species data to inform the literature review.
• Convened U.S. experts from academia, federal agencies and Alaska Native organizations for peer review.

"Quieting technology lets us manage Alaska's massive marine resource endowment while respecting the people and wildlife that rely on a healthy ocean," said Dr. Christina Bonsell, a marine ecologist with BOEM's Alaska OCS Region who served as contracting officer for the funding. "This report summarizes tools and know-how that support that balance"

BOEM experts are evaluating how the findings can inform and streamline environmental analyses for future lease sales, seismic permits and potential carbon-storage projects in the Alaska OCS.

Read the report: Management of Arctic Marine Oil and Gas Associated Noise.

-- BOEM --

The Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) manages development of U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) energy, mineral, and geological resources in an environmentally and economically responsible way.