MARMAM readers. We would like to call your attention to a paper recently published in BioScience that considers modern approaches to assessing the effects of noise on marine mammals in the Arctic. The full citation and abstract are given below; .pdf copies are available on request. Thank you, Brandon Southall on behalf of Sue Moore and co-authors Randy Reeves, Tim Ragen, Robert Suydam, and Christopher Clark. --------------------------- Moore, S.E., Reeves, R.R., Southall, B.L., Ragen, T.J., Suydam^R.S., and Clark^C.W.(2012).Marine mammals and anthropogenic sound in a rapidly changing Arctic.BioScience 62, 289-295. The recent loss of Arctic sea ice provides humans unprecedented access to the region. Marine mammals rely on sound as a primary sensory modality, and the noise associated with increasing human activities offshore can interfere with vital life functions. Many coastal communities rely on marine mammals for food and cultural identity, and subsistence hunters have expressed strong concerns that underwater sound from human activities negatively affects both the animals and hunting success. Federal regulations require scientists and oil and gas operators to acquire inci- dental harassment authorizations for activities that may disturb marine mammals. Currently, authorization requests are focused on the impacts of sound from activities considered in isolation of one another, and this precludes any possibility of a meaningful analysis of the cumulative impacts from multiple sources. We propose a new assessment framework that is based on the acoustic habitats that constitute the aggregate sound field from multiple sources, compiled at spatial and temporal scales consistent with the ecology of Arctic marine mammals. -- PLEASE NOTE: New mailing address and office/FAX #s for SEA, Inc. Brandon L. Southall, Ph.D. President, Senior Scientist, SEA, Inc. Research Associate, University of California, Santa Cruz 9099 Soquel Drive, Suite 8, Aptos, CA 95003, USA 831.332.8744 (mobile); 831.661.5177 (office); 831.661.5178 (fax) Brandon.Southall@sea-inc.net; www.sea-inc.net