“…Physical injury to the vestibular, reproductive and nervous systems, although potentially lethal, is rare (Erbe, ) and the injured animals would have to be very close to the noise source for physical damage to tissues and organs to occur (Dooling et al, ). There have been several reports documenting fish mortality within proximity to pile driving sources or explosions but none in relation to shipping noise (Govoni et al ., ; Hawkins et al ., ; Keevin & Hempen, ; Popper & Hastings, ; Yelverton et al ., ). For example, when juvenile chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum 1792) were exposed to impulsive sounds (177–210 dB re 1 μPa), the observed injuries ranged from mild haematomas at the lowest sound exposure levels to organ haemorrhage at the highest sound exposure levels (Halvorsen et al ., ).…”