The biological consequences of cable installation and presence
depend on the ecosystem affected and apply to different ecosystem
components in different ways. Seabed disturbance and thermal
radiation may impact benthic organisms (Meissner and Sordyl,
2006), underwater noise is most relevant for marine mammals
(Richardson et al., 1995), electromagnetic fields may have effects on
elasmobranchs and sensitive marine mammals (Tricas and Gill,
2011), while visual disturbance resulting from cable installation
has the potential to displace sensitive sea birds