An international standards body is finalizing plans for an underwater Internet of Things — a global network transmitting data through the water itself, using sound. At 160–250 decibels, around the clock, across every ocean.
This is what that means — for the whales, the reefs, the fish, and eventually us. Scroll, drag, listen.
Five acoustic nodes. Each pulses data through the water as pressure waves. Drag the decibel dial to hear and see what changes as the network scales up to its planned operational range.
Audio is a loose approximation — your speakers can't safely reproduce 250 dB underwater. Real exposure would be orders of magnitude more intense.
Threshold of harm varies by species and signal. Each row shows the level at which meaningful disruption begins in the published literature. The bar fills red when the current level crosses the threshold.
Sound travels farther and faster in water than in air. Every 6 dB roughly doubles the audible range. At network scale, there is nowhere in the open ocean that is quiet.
Fiber-optic cables already carry almost every byte of the world's internet beneath the sea. Extending the pattern — rather than replacing it with sound — would protect marine life without sacrificing the goal.
Contact your national standards body (ISO / ANSI / IEC) and ask them to back a quiet, fiber-first working group.
Learn how →Independent environmental impact research is what the final vote will turn on. It isn't funded by default.
Donate →Most people don't know this is being decided right now. Share this page. Talk about the ocean that isn't yet loud.
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