Dear colleagues, I would like to announce a new article with implications for marine mammals, as well as other ocean organisms that are sensitive to sound. Entitled "A key to quieter seas: half of ship noise comes from 15% of the fleet <https://dx.doi.org/10.22541/au.149039726.69540798>" this work presents source level statistics and computations which underpin four policy options which could reduce ship noise levels by 3 dB re 1 uPa. Along with my co-authors Val Veirs, Rob Williams, Michael Jasny, and Jason Wood, I invite you to read this open-access preprint -- https://dx.doi.org/10.22541/au.149039726.69540798 Abstract: "Underwater noise pollution from ships is a chronic, global stressor impacting a wide range of marine species. Ambient ocean noise levels nearly doubled each decade from 1963-2007 in low-frequency bands attributed to shipping, inspiring a pledge from the International Maritime Organization to reduce ship noise and a call from the International Whaling Commission for member nations to halve ship noise within a decade. Our analysis of data from 1,582 ships reveals that half of the total power radiated by a modern fleet comes from just 15% of the ships, namely those with source levels above 179 dB re 1 μPa @ 1 m. We present a range of management options for reducing ship noise efficiently, including incentive-based programs, without necessarily regulating the entire fleet." We would also like to encourage the Marmam community to comment upon our article publicly. We have elected to publish our results as a preprint on the collaborative scientific writing site, Authorea, to promote low-cost open science and to solicit feedback from our peers -- you! While reading the article on Authorea in your web browser (as an HTML document, rather than a PDF), you may comment anonymously or non-anonymously on any paragraph, figure, or table. We promise to respond to you, at least in follow-up comments on the site, and possibly by revising the article based on your input. If you prefer to write a traditional comprehensive review, we would be happy to archive and link to it so that your effort is documented and citable. We welcome email responses to scott@beamreach.org Best regards, Scott in Seattle