Fish exposed to noise pollution likely to die early: Study

Fish exposed to noise pollution likely to die early: Study

Source: channelnews asia

9/16/2020

Fish exposed to noise pollution likely to die early: Study

Fish stressed by noise are less able to fight off disease and prolonged exposure can lead to an early death, according to research on the consequences of man-made clamour on the natural world.

Human noise pervades the environment, from the roar of engines to the clatter of industry.

Being underwater is no escape, with the whir of ship propellers thought to interfere with whale sonar.

Researchers at Cardiff University in Britain said noise pollution has been shown to lead to "stress, hearing loss, behavioural changes and impacted immunity".

But they said the ways in which noise affects resistance to disease had remained "neglected".

In their paper, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science on Tuesday, researchers tested the impact of random blasts of white noise played into fish tanks on the susceptibility of guppy fish to parasitic infection.