Welcome1

The introduction of anthropogenic underwater noise is one aspect in which maritime activities may impact the marine environment. BSH is the authority responsible for the approval of offshore wind energy projects in the German EEZ, for monitoring and assessment of underwater noise effects on the marine environment and for the implementation and operation of the national noise registry, covering the German waters in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
MarinEARS (Marine Explorer and Registry of Sound) was established in 2016 as dedicated expert information system on underwater sound. It provides the backbone of the national noise registry and serves BSH as scientific platform regarding underwater noise effects for conducting Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) in the framework of approval procedures for offshore wind farms (OWF) as well as for the estimation of cumulative impacts in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for Maritime Spatial Planning and the Site Development Plan for Offshore Wind Energy.

Explore MarinEARS for

	IMG	Text
		E-Reporting of OWF monitoring data (enter via Login)
		- during offshore wind farm construction
		- during offshore windfarm operation
		Accessing information (via Data & Downloads)
		- Impulsive sound
		- Continous sound (under development)
		- Mammal detections (under development)
		Research & Development Projects
		Analyses and Offshore Experience Reports

Explore the Noise Registry for

	IMG	Text
		Accessing information according to the MSFD reporting
		- Pile driving events
		- Explosions of non-transportable UXO
		- Military activities
		- Sonars (under development)
		- Seismic (under development)
		Reporting of impulsive noise events (enter via Login)

MarinEARS offers publicly accessible general and technical information on underwater noise events including their location, date and duration. Additionally, it provides information on sound pressure levels as well as on the application of noise abatement systems.
Data and Information on underwater sound are imported and made available on the MarinEARS website after internal quality assessments.
Information and products on underwater noise are provided for the public (browse the Data and Download section) and for registered data providers (enter via Login).