The recent weeks of quiet, with no roar from dune buggies, brought forth a realization. Living 2 miles from the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, parts of Oceano and the Nipomo Mesa bear an undiscussed, invisible physical toll. When coastal wind carries engine roars into our yards and homes, it does more than disturb our peace.
Neuroscience proves our bodies do not “tune out” erratic engine revving and low-frequency noise. This acoustic pollution forces the nervous system into a chronic “fight-or-flight” state. Our brains interpret these sounds as threats, triggering a relentless flooding of adrenaline and cortisol. For some individuals, the consequences are elevated blood pressure, fragmented sleep, and severe cognitive fatigue. Our brains burn massive mental energy filtering out the chaos, leaving residents feeling exhausted, anxious, and physically drained not knowing why.
The heaviest burden falls on the young and elderly. For some children, this constant auditory chaos can impair speech acquisition, stunt reading scores, and trigger behavioral hyperactivity. For some older adults, long-term exposure to transportation noise is linked to hypertension and accelerated cognitive decline, including dementia.
Beyond human health, this noise severely damages wildlife. The acoustic impact on nearshore marine life is profound; engine vibrations disrupt marine mammal communication, disorient fish, and drive protected nesting shorebirds from critical shoreline habitats.
As our community debates dune management, we must look past economic and recreational arguments. This is a legitimate public health and ecological crisis. It is time to address the neurological and environmental impacts on local families.
Karl Kempton
Oceano
This article appears in Pride 2026.
The vast majority of residents of he Five Cities area live much less than 2 miles from the far noisier 101 freeway, which unlike the Oceano dunes, operates 24/7. Yet, somehow we have survived. I do not recall ever having heard motor vehicles on the dunes except when I was nearby, and it seems that the sound of the surf, which most of us enjoy, is more noticeable. Perhaps this “sonic assault” is exaggerated.
Thank you Karl Kempton for this excellent article about noise pollution. It must be nerve wracking to be down wind from that continuous unnatural, fossil fuel driven, dune buggy noise pollution.
Peace and Quiet, and the sounds of nature, are so much better.
Hopefully we can make more progress, and finally ban the dune buggies and and vehicle traffic on that beautiful long beach, for good.
Shut up.