Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having spoken with Navy divers on thia issue, it could range from unpleasent to fatal depending on how loud the active is, and distance from the transducer. Before a dive, verifing that no ships nearby were planning on transmitting was a required safety precaution. Someone smarter than me could probably figure out what dB level actually causes internal damage.
A cursory google search gives the number 170dB as potentially fatal. [0] [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/30xga2/i...
A train horn is 130, okay, we've all been too close to a train horn, and it's unpleasant. But everything else in that reply is hypothetical, with not even serious, realistic, testable anecdotes to support the claims.
Without supporting evidence all it says is:
150 db is bad.
160 db is bad.
170 db is bad.
194 db is bad.
185 db is bad. (tornados)
220 db is bad. (bombs)
250 db is bad. (bombs)
310 db is bad. (volcanos)
325 db is bad. (stratovolcano)
500 db is bad.