European acoustics experts meet in Bergen for the DeuteroNoise Mid-Term Meeting

Anthropogenic activities in the sea produce high levels of noise pollution, impacting the health of marine ecosystems. This effect is particularly understudied in invertebrate animals, despite their ecological significance. Under the lead of Prof. Lucia Manni from the University of Padova, the DeuteroNoise project brings together a multi-disciplinary team of scientists from Italy, Spain, Romania and Norway to address this important issue.

Expanding Knowledge on Marine Noise Pollution

Supported by JPI Oceans, the project started in November 2022 and will continue until November 2025. After two years of work, the consortium shared their results at the DeuteroNoise Mid-Term Meeting. “We have learned that the marine invertebrate deuterostomes we are focusing on are negatively impacted by noise at different developmental stages from embryos, larvae, juvenile to adult organisms, and at different levels both behavioral, physiological, and molecular,” Prof. Manni explained.

The project aims to characterize anthropogenic noise in a vast area in Europe that includes the North Adriatic Sea, North Sea, Black Sea and parts of the Mediterranean. Filomena Ristoratore, Senior Researcher at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn and a leading researcher on the project, highlighted some unexpected results. “The type of noise in different basins can be very different from what was previously supposed, and it also affects non-vertebrate animals,” she said. The findings are crucial for identifying the mechanisms that different marine animals such as tunicates or echinoderms use to respond to underwater noise. It will also allow researchers to predict the sensitivities of closely related species that are challenging to study in a laboratory setting.

The Role of the Michael Sars Centre and UiB

Marios Chatzigeorgiou, group leader at the Michael Sars Centre, is a scientific coordinator for the project. Together with postdoctoral researcher Sissel Nordland, he organized the visit of the consortium in Bergen. “The meeting was extremely well attended both in person and online from all the partners”, he said. “I was impressed by the amount of scientific progress that we have all made. I was also very happy to see the diversity of approaches used by the consortium researchers.”

“I was impressed by the amount of scientific progress that we have all made. I was also very happy to see the diversity of approaches used by the consortium researchers.” - Marios Chatzigeorgiou

Hosting the DeuteroNoise meeting at the Centre was no coincidence. “The Michael Sars Centre has top-notch lab facilities, so I guess the partners may see the potential for experimental work here and wish to collaborate even more with the Centre in the future”, said Marine Dean Øyvind Fiksen, who opened the meeting.

As the leader of the UiB Ocean strategic area, Fiksen also stressed the broader significance of the DeuteroNoise project within UiB’s oceanic research efforts. “We aim to stimulate our participation in international collaborations”, he explained. “We hope that the success with DeuteroNoise will encourage many others to engage in similar pan-European, cross-disciplinary calls.”

A Collaborative Effort Across Disciplines

During the meeting, the team was eager to gather in person to discuss their latest findings and plan for the future. “DeuteroNoise is an interdisciplinary project that bring together biologist, physicists and ecologists so it is really essential to meet face to face in order to be able to exchange our experience and set the experiments required to reach our ambitious goals”, Ristoratore explained. “The data will not only be published in scientific journal but also presented to stakeholders and citizens”.

As with any ambitious research project, DeuteroNoise has faced several challenges. From logistical hurdles to collaborations across borders and research fields, the team has had to navigate numerous obstacles. “The consortium’s multidisciplinary nature required time to integrate knowledge and competencies”, Manni noted. “We also had to adapt to the animals’ seasonal cycles and the atmospheric conditions that sometimes limit our field trips.”

Looking Ahead

As DeuteroNoise approaches its final year, the team looks forward to the next stage of the project. After two years spent developing technological tools and performing experiments in the field and in the laboratory, they are now in a position to start sharing the results of their work. “We really hope that in the next year and a half we will be able to present to European policy makers conclusive evidence on the impact of underwater noise on marine invertebrate life in the sea”, Chatzigeorgiou concluded.