Opinion: We need new technology to replace sonic cannons.
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With our new evidence-based Government of Canada, I wonder how well science-based law will protect our ecosystems. In my recent blog, the CANADIAN CHARTER OF CRITTERS, the all-caps is a law thing, I plagiarized the CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS and made a creative statement about how many nations are changing how law recognizes our environment. A breach in the right direction!
Some countries have already passed laws protecting animals and ecosystems. Ontario passed some, Quebec did and in a few months, Manitoba will be added to the list of governments that are starting to address serious environmental issues with smart laws to protect us. Congrats Manitoba!
Should Canada protect our ecosystems, plants, and animals? Is there a way to respect our Earth and benefit from green culture? Our environment needs representation and it is getting more. There is certain delusion in saying that a green economy isn't superior to the present fossil fuels jalopy. There is much that science has learned in the past few decades and we must pay attention and apply it well. Remember, the Montreal Protocol was a success.
So if we are going to protect ecosystems, we need to identify processes that can damage it in ways we haven't considered. I called this blog whale cannons to draw attention to the use of sonic cannons in oil exploration. As modern physics became more sophisticated, the use of sonic imaging has become a sophisticated tool in understanding what geology is hidden beneath. Mining uses this, oil and gas, geologists and the military uses high energy physics for its secret sonar technology. By using a high amplitude sound wave, physics can help determine what is underground. Coupled with expert analysis, this tool is useful, but it can harm life in the local area.
One scientific property of water is the superior sound transmission. Versus our Earth's atmosphere, water is superior in transmitting sound. Liquids are* incompressible, and as such energy transmitted is done with high efficiency. Whales have taken advantage of waters secrets, as well, they can sing and communicate long distances. Military listening arrays can identify most ships using the unique topological sound signatures all around the world by exploiting waters secrets and some smart physics. Sneaky.
The technology used for exploring for oil and gas in our oceans uses a sound cannon. This sonic pulse is very loud. Some estimates, depending on water temperatures and thermocline phase translations and refractions, compare the human experience like "100,000 times louder than a jet engine". That's loud. Having designed products that have sonic safety considerations for workers, these sonic cannons are dangerous.
I mention whales, but the reality is that these sonic cannons impact oysters, seals, seabirds, and fish. All biology that experiences this much jerk is in danger. The Gulf of St. Lawrence, our arctic oceans are all areas that may be subject to this process.
What will Catherine McKenna and Kirsty Duncan do to help our critters?