"The ocean's natural sound is gradually hushing due to habitat loss, leading to a quieter natural environment increasingly drowned out by the crescendo of man-made noise pollution," explained lead author Dr. Brittany Williams, from the University's Southern Seas Ecology Laboratories.
"Numerous marine larvae rely on natural sounds to navigate and select their dwellings, so this interference poses a problem for conservationists aiming to attract oysters to restored reefs using natural sounds.
"Noises from shipping, machinery and construction, for example, are pervasive and pose serious environmental change that affects both terrestrial and marine animals."
According to the research, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, marine organisms appear particularly vulnerable to the intensification of anthropogenic noise because they use sound for a range of activities, including to sense their surroundings, navigate, communicate, avoid predators, and find mates and food.