August 12, 2016 — One of the biggest threats to humpback whales spending their summers in New England is being hit by a passing ship.

But a collision isn’t all they have to fear. A study published Wednesday found that low-frequency noise from passing freighters and cargo ships near the coast could be disrupting their ability to feed.

A team of researchers examining the foraging behavior of 10 whales in the Gulf of Maine found that some of these 40-ton cetaceans descended more slowly in the presence of ships, giving them less time to find the food they’d normally consume. The whales also conducted fewer side-roll maneuvers — a technique they use to feed on a type of fish known as a sand lance that’s found just above the sea floor.

“Overall, I was kind of surprised that we were able to detect any response statistically just because these humpback whales are very adaptable,” said Hannah Blair, a graduate student at Stony Brook University in New York who led the analysis on the data.

Whales, dolphins and other marine life depend heavily on sound to communicate with one another and to search for food. A growing body of evidence in recent decades suggests noise caused by humans, including ship noise, is wreaking havoc on marine life. It masks sounds produced by prey and alters the behavior of prey.

Findings like these prompted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in July to announce a project to address noise that impacts aquatic species and their habitat over the next 10 years. The goals include educating the public about the problem and “minimizing the acute, chronic and cumulative effects of noise on marine species and their habitat.”

The study offers the first evidence that noise could be harming the feeding behavior of humpback whales.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Gloucester Times