Mr. Patrick Lyne:

One does not actually know the need for acoustic monitoring or what sounds are being made until one has actually put a hydrophone out. There is much ignorance when it comes to fish, especially, and what sounds they are making. I would include myself in that. Many of our fish have the facility to produce low-frequency sound, which is where we get into trouble with ship noise, potentially wind turbine noise, seismic noise and all that sort of noise, which is low-frequency sound. Minke whales, which I am particularly interested in at the moment and are the most common baleen whale, use low-frequency breeding calls. We absolutely need to know what is going on before we develop, particularly in an MPA. Bivalves make much sound. I am not sure why. I am not sure if crustaceans make sounds. Quite a variety of animals in the marine environment make sound. To be honest, we do not really know why all these animals make the sounds, but we associate many of the sounds they make with breeding calls. If one interferes with those, one potentially affects the breeding and reproduction of animals.