Fundamental Questions | International Quiet Ocean Experiment (IQOE)

Fundamental Questions

Underlying the IQOE are five fundamental questions:

How have human activities affected the global ocean soundscape compared with natural
changes over geologic time?
What are the current levels and distribution of sound in the ocean?
What are the trends in sound levels across the global ocean?
What are the current effects of anthropogenic sound on important marine animal populations?
What are the potential future effects of sound on marine life?

These questions will be addressed within four IQOE Themes. Questions 1-3 will be addressed by Theme 1, and Questions 4 and 5 will be addressed by Theme 2. Theme 2 will build on Theme 1 and Theme 3 will build on both Themes 1 and 2. The three themes are divided into key questions and research approaches to each of these questions. Theme 1 will primarily be addressed by ocean acousticians and Theme 2 by marine biologists, but there will need to be an unprecedented level of cooperation between these two communities to ensure the success of the IQOE.

Status

IQOE is in its 9th year as a 10-year project and continues to implement of its Science Plan (available here). IQOE has successfully coordinated a variety of activities in ocean acoustics and bioacoustics through IQOE working groups on the use of acoustics to assess biodiversity, the importance of acoustic observations in the Arctic Ocean, standards for reporting ocean acoustic and bioacoustic data for IQOE, software for making acoustic observations comparable worldwide, and recommendations for implementation of an Ocean Sound Essential Ocean Variable for the Global Ocean Observing System. IQOE progress has been documented since June 2018 through IQOE Newsletters and since the beginning of the project through other products. IQOE identified 2020 as the Year of the Quiet Ocean because of evidence that ocean sound decreased because of decreases in human activities in the ocean due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Next Steps

Activities in 2024 will include actions to help implement the Ocean Sound Essential Ocean Variable Implementation Plan; continuation of new activities on low-cost ocean acoustic observing systems and expansion of the Open Portal to Underwater Sound (OPUS), implementation of the Global Library of Underwater Biological Sounds, sponsorship of the second World Ocean Passive Acoustic Monitoring Day; and meetings of IQOE working groups and Science Committee.