Why is the absence of human produced sound in nature so important?
The absence of human caused noise intrusions is important for several reasons. Foremost wildlife evolved to use sound (as did we) to communicate with other animals and detect vital information such as the approach of a predator or the proximity of prey. When human caused noise, such as the passing of a jet overhead, interferes with this process we can only speculate that this will impact their lives in some way [this is a factor on land and under water]. It is careless and disrespectful for us to interfere with wildlife communications without first studying the situation carefully and choosing wisely our options. Secondly, silence is the think tank of the soul. For example, distant car traffic that intrudes into the deep woods has no relationship to the wind in the tree tops or the bird singing from the bough. Imagine yourself for a moment sitting at the concert hall about to hear the symphony and then randomly during the performance the carpet gets vacuumed! But in nature, that is exa
