A new study using Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) Pacific Ocean hydrophone data reveals a significant reduction in underwater noise during the COVID-19 shutdown, which may be good news for endangered southern resident killer whales.

When the coronavirus put the world on lockdown in March 2020, David Barclay, assistant professor at Dalhousie University’s Department of Oceanography, recognized a unique opportunity to monitor changes in underwater noise. Without leaving his home in Atlantic Canada, Barclay was able to remotely study the Pacific Ocean soundscape using...