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by ghc 4657 days ago
Why not? The latest statistics I could find say that about 22 launches per year happen there. At each launch pad there are probably only a fraction of those. But even if the disturbance is approximately 2 minutes long (a slowly rising rocket), that's less than 1 hour per year. I find it hard to believe that wildlife cannot cope with that.
1 comments

My understanding is that the noise from a rocket launch is so loud, even 10 miles away, that you have to shout over it to be heard. One mile from the launchpad, it's loud enough to damage your ears.

Wallops Island is 6 square miles.

Your understanding is not accurate; I was 5 miles away from this launch and the low rumble was not loud enough to drown normal talking.

Most launches from Wallops are sounding rockets, which are much smaller than the Minotaur. Which is itself much smaller than the Space Shuttle was.

Ah, that makes a big difference then.