"Many marine animals use active and passive acoustics for a range of biological functions taking advantage of the low attenuation of sound in water and. Rising levels of acoustic pollution have the potential to impact negatively on groups of marine fauna, such as cetaceans, known to rely on sound to communicate and forage. There is novel and growing evidence for the use of ambient sound in orientation in other marine fauna at the base of the trophic net, particularly larval fish and crustacea searching for a settlement area. This project will extend research on the usage of passive acoustic orientation by marine fauna from different trophic levels in the marine ecosystem: fish/crustacean larvae and baleen whales. The potential negative impact of anthropogenic sound on acoustic orientation of these species will be explored as well as the possible top-down and bottom-up effects of noise in the marine ecosystem. Reference data on background noise levels in the oceans are scarce, limiting our ability to detect increases in noise levels and their potential effects in sensitive marine areas. Marine acoustic pollution is pervasive and may cross boundaries of protected areas. This project will monitor levels of broadband background noise in marine Nature 2000 sites and investigate whether the design of these sites is effective at protecting fauna from noise pollution. This multidisciplinary project involves the participartion of several international collaborators and will use state of the art technology including specialised underwater equipment for larval studies, suction-cup acoustic and orientation DTAGs to investigate whales and acoustic recording and dosimeters systems, DMONs, deployed from GPS-equipped drifting buoys, for sound field mapping of marine European Special Areas of Conservation in the Canary Islands. Results will have immediate application to EU policy on anthropogenic noise in the oceans, with implications for human fisheries and biological conservation."