Inuit call for shipping noise reduction in Arctic regions

The Inuit Circumpolar Council, which represents 180,000 Inuit in Alaska, Canada, Greenland and Chukotka in Russia, has urged the UN International Maritime Organization to adopt mandatory measures to reduce underwater shipping noise, which they fear is affecting marine mammals.

Researchers have likened the passing of a single icebreaker, increasingly present in the Arctic, to an underwater rock concert. Ship noise can disrupt activities that marine mammals need to survive, by shrinking their communication space, causing stress and displacing them from important habitats.