Noise pollution as a stressor in aquatic animal species

Sound travels very efficiently underwater, so the potential area impacted can be thousands of square kilometers or more. Anthropogenic activities such as commercial shipping, recreational activities, drilling, seismic exploration or energy production (hydroelectric power plants), have made underwater noise pollution an increasing and perhaps dominant factor in the aquatic environment. Nowadays, underwater noise pollution produced by human activates, anthropogenic noise, is a growing problem in aquatic environments including marine and freshwater habitats and as such may be a major source of stress for fish and other aquatic species. The stress response in fish shows many similarities to that of the terrestrial vertebrates. Anthropogenic noise can alter the behavior of whales, birds and fish and thus have long term direct or indirect consequences on the behavior, fitness and ecology of a species.in the current study, I address some literature surveys that have shown the potential effects of anthropogenic noise as stressor factor in fish species.