In 2014, Ross Cunning, a biologist at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium, was in Florida, studying coral off the coast of Fort Lauderdale. His work was focused on the seabed right beneath Port Everglades, the economic engine for the region, where a third of Florida’s petroleum products are stored and at least a dozen cruise ships depart daily. “You could hear it very loudly, and you could feel it in your body—the vibrations from these huge ships going by, sort of disturbingly close,” said Cunning.
