A new wave glider, specifically designed for acoustic recordings of beaked whale songs and communication. This computer operated underwater glider, has the battery power to travel from the US to hawaii. It works through an automatic oil bladder that is able to submerge down to 1,000 meters below ocean level. This new depth of sound recording has made it possible to be able to record sound recordings of beaked whales. Beaked whales are one of the more unknown mammals, they are creatures of the deep sea and do most of their feeding at the ocean floor. They are able to unbelievably able dive for 20 to 35 minutes at a time. Their songs emit a distinct three clicks per second which is drastically different than any other marine mammal. Dolphins for example, emit 100 clicks a second. The ability to gather acoustic information on these whales at depths this low was never a possibility until now.
Research for the acoustics of the beaked whales is not the only reason for this research. The fact that there have been numerous reports of beached beaked whales due to military sonar equipment is also under investigation.
The technology to do this kind of research was not available five years ago. Acoustic software and this new underwater glider will lead to many new findings for all marine mammals. The information gained from this research will lead to new findings in whale biology.
Alexandre Bourdois (7)
It's about time they made something to record marine mammals! How is it specifically designed for beaked whales and if it is specifically designed for them will it work just as well for all other marine mammals? How are they investigating military sonar equipment?
ReplyDelete-Tara Quist
This sounds really interesting! What do you mean when you say it travels from the US to Hawaii? Can it follow the whales? How far away does it have to be to record the sounds? Is there only one piece of this apparatus or will they make more? Great find
ReplyDelete-Alyson Paige
After looking into whale communication a little for our final project (and finding so little)- it is encouraging that they are coming up with new ways to record and study whales. Why do you that the beaked whales emit so few clicks per second compared to the dolphins? What aspect of the calls of these whales do you think military sonar is interfering with? Has there been any findings on the communication in this beaked whale species?
ReplyDeletePosted by Tiffany Mallet