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Quieting the Gulf

Sperm whale | Photo credit: NOAA

Quieting the Gulf is a collaborative effort among NFWF and federal agencies to advance seismic technologies and survey methods that reduce underwater sound impacts on marine mammals while supporting effective offshore energy exploration along the Gulf Coast.

Partner

Logo of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The design features a stylized white seabird in flight over a two-tone blue background, with the acronym ‘NOAA’ in white letters on the dark blue upper section. Surrounding the image is a circular border with the words ‘National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’ at the top and ‘U.S. Department of Commerce’ at the bottom.

In 2025, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), with funding from NOAA Fisheries and in partnership with Marine Minerals Administration (MMA, formerly BOEM), launched a project called Quieting the Gulf, an effort to increase the voluntary uptake of seismic source technologies and survey methods in the Gulf to ultimately reduce the acoustic footprint (relative to marine mammal hearing) compared to conventional compressed air seismic sources (i.e., airguns) while still supporting effective oil and gas exploration. 

The partnership is working to develop and build awareness of and interest in a voluntary, industry-informed approach to “Quieting the Gulf” that is technologically robust, environmentally meaningful, responsive to the oil and gas industry’s need for high-quality seismic data and incentivizes voluntary uptake by industry. 

Key components include: 

  • Develop and vet an index system to score and enable comparison between the sound emission footprint of different seismic sources and methods relative to marine mammals in the Gulf 
  • Design and develop a standardized acoustic measurement system and testing protocol to support consistent measurement and comparison of different seismic sources and operational configurations
     
Quieting the Gulf - Phase 1 Workshop Summary Download the PDF
Quieting the Gulf – Phase 2 Download the PDF
Collaborating with Industry on Noise Reduction Pilot Projects: Recommended Options Paper Download the PDF
Quieting the Gulf Project Introduction Webinar Recording View Website
Join the Email List View Website
Staff Representatives
Michelle Pico

Senior Program Director, Marine Conservation

Annabel Chase

Coordinator, Regional Programs