Marine scientist Kieran Cox calls it 鈥減robably the most pervasive, unregulated pollutant in Canada and globally.鈥�

It鈥檚 not plastic, petrochemicals or another chemical toxin. It鈥檚 underwater noise.

鈥淣oise pollution is certainly something that everything from small invertebrates to big cetaceans are interacting with and so that鈥檚 why we鈥檙e moving forward as a country on this topic,鈥� said Cox, a biological sciences post-doctoral fellow at Simon Fraser University.

Cox led a team of researchers who examined a report commissioned by the Defence Department on safeguarding whales from the sound of weapons during training exercises.

He said while the report has flaws, it鈥檚 a step in the right direction while Canada decides on its national ocean noise strategy that has been delayed after years of development.

Noise created in the oceans, through activities like shipping, can interfere with underwater animals鈥� ability to locate prey and communicate.

The federal government has called noise 鈥渁n identified threat to the recovery of many marine species listed in the Species At Risk Act.鈥�

The noise strategy was scheduled to be released this year but Fisheries and Oceans Canada says it needs more time because of the pandemic.

鈥淭he publication of the Ocean Noise Strategy for Canada is anticipated before the end of the 2023-2024 fiscal year with an associated period of public engagement to immediately follow,鈥� Tomie White, a spokesperson for the department, said in a statement.

Cox鈥檚 work, published Friday in the journal Marine Policy, looked at the Department of National Defence鈥檚 decision in 2019 to pause military training exercises in a 330-square-kilometre area of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, know as 鈥淲hiskey Hotel.鈥�

The area overlaps the critical habitat of B.C.鈥檚 endangered southern resident killer whales.

Exercises were halted until January this year.

The third-party report commissioned by the department concluded the impact of noise on marine mammals was expected to be 鈥渓imited,鈥� thanks to protections such as avoiding certain areas when whales are nearby, training and monitoring.

Cox said the report is a rare example of an organization that wasn鈥檛 legally required to consider noise impacts pausing work, commissioning a third-party report and implementing protections.

鈥淚n some regards, to me, they kind of pave the route forwards for what we do in the interim, while we have the ocean noise strategy conversation, which will certainly be a decade-long discussion,鈥� Cox said.

No one from the Navy was available for an interview.

Cox said the commissioned report was completed by 鈥渨orld-class鈥� experts and is unique in that it puts the onus on the group doing an activity to pause and research potential impacts and then implement measures to protect animals.

鈥淵ou can really follow this as a template for how we would say, 鈥極K, this activity is going to occur, what kind of impacts (is it) going to have? How do we mitigate those and move forwards with this shared space of the oceans?鈥� he said.

A number of flaws with the military鈥檚 report would need to be addressed before its model could be expanded as part of Canada鈥檚 national plan, Cox said.

While it focused on whales, thousands of fish and invertebrates in the ocean rely on sound and can also be impacted by noise.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e harder to see than whales are. So some of the mitigation measures will need to be modified and they also don鈥檛 leave the area as easily, they are going to stay there more long term,鈥� Cox said.

鈥淪o I think at a minimum, including species we know that are drawing whales to the area is important because you don鈥檛 want to impact them.鈥�

He said the report also only considers the sounds of the weapons used by ships and not the sound of the navy vessels themselves.

鈥淚 think (the report) is a step forward but it鈥檚 certainly by no means the end of the discussion for noise pollution in Canada. That鈥檚 just starting,鈥� he said.

White said the federal government is committed to protecting ecosystems.

鈥淭he purpose of the strategy is to develop a whole-of-government approach to guide federal science, research, and technology development, and to co-ordinate the management of human-generated marine noise in Canada鈥檚 oceans.鈥�

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