The Arctic Ocean has long been one of the quietest marine environments on Earth. But that is quickly changing.
New research published in npj Acoustics, combined with long-term monitoring from Ocean Networks Canada, shows that underwater noise in the Arctic is increasing and is far more complex than traditional measurements suggest.
Using nearly a decade of acoustic data from Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, researchers established a baseline of the region’s soundscape across seasons. What they found challenges a common assumption: that Arctic noise is mainly driven by summer shipping.
While vessel traffic does increase noise as sea ice melts, winter months are far from quiet. Ice movement, environmental processes, and human activity such as snowmobiles and aircraft all contribute to a dynamic and often noisy environment. Many of these sources are not captured by standard monitoring approaches.
Current regulations tend to focus on low-frequency “shipping bands” associated with large vessels. But the study shows that Arctic noise spans a much broader range of frequencies and sources, meaning a significant portion of human impact is being overlooked.
This matters because sound plays a critical role in Arctic ecosystems. Marine species rely on it to communicate, navigate, and find food. In such a naturally quiet environment, even small increases in noise can disrupt these behaviours and alter ecosystem dynamics.
The research highlights the importance of long-term, continuous monitoring to understand what “normal” looks like — and how quickly it is changing. Without a more comprehensive approach, there is a risk of underestimating the scale of human impact as activity in the region continues to grow.
As climate change opens the Arctic to more shipping, tourism, and development, better sound monitoring will be essential to protecting one of the planet’s most sensitive environments.
