Posted at 8:12 p.m., Friday, February 1,2002

Neighbor Islands
Underwater sound tests resume off Kaua'i

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

The controversial underwater sound generator off Kaua'i has been placed back in service by the North Pacific Acoustic Laboratory of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The source emits low-frequency sound that travels through the ocean and can be picked up at underwater microphone sites off California and other points in the North Pacific. Since the speed of sound in water changes with water temperature, researchers are using the experiments to track changes in the deep ocean temperature.

The Acoustic Thermometry of Ocean Climate project generated loud protests for its potential to damage marine life. The project conducted extensive studies of marine mammals, and found that while animals like humpback whales do respond to the sound, they do not appear to be damaged by it.

The undersea speaker is in water a half-mile deep, about eight miles north of Ha'ena on Kaua'i's north side. The first of the new series of broadcasts was at 2 p.m. Jan. 24. Aerial and shoreline surveys of the ocean surface to study whale actions are continuing. The surveys are to begin Saturday, Feb. 2.

The research will continue to look into the value of such broadcasts in measuring ocean temperatures, measuring how sound travels in water, and measuring long-term effects of loud noises on marine life.

The Office of Naval Research supports the project of Scripps, the University of California at San Diego and the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington.