Oil Spill Sonic Buoy Testing

Monterey Bay, California. Spilled oil is one of the most common, recurrent, and destructive environmental perturbations in North American coastal waters. Marine birds and mammals do not avoid most slicks and therefore are exposed to the highly toxic material by breathing the volatile components, ingesting oil while grooming, or by eating contaminated fish and invertebrates.

This project seeks to test the possibility of using a variety of high amplitude, irritating sounds produced by a buoy that drifts with an oil slick designed to prevent marine birds and mammals from entering an oil-exposed area. The first phase of the experiment, we are tested a commercially available product in Monterey Bay to determine its effectiveness on the species most often impacted by oil spills in coastal California. Should it prove effective, we will design, build and test a device that produces sounds underwater to have the same deterrent effect on marine mammals, especially cetaceans.