Blue Whales' Songs Tracked By Australian Scientists Using Military Technology

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian scientists are using military technology for locating submarines to track rare blue whales hundreds of kilometers away by eavesdropping on their distinctive songs.

Blue whales can communicate with each other over an entire ocean basin by emitting low frequency sounds, or deep songs.

Scientists from the Australian Antarctic Division started using directional sonobuoys this year to detect whale sounds -- a big improvement on the standard visual method of monitoring whales.

"Ultimately we're trying to get an abundance estimate for blue whales. Over many years you start to build up re-site history for them and from that you estimate total population size," Australian Antarctic Division scientist Mike Double told Reuters.

Over a 20-day period earlier this year, scientists recorded 103 sightings of blue whales in an area of more than 10,000 sq km (3,861 square miles) by using the technology.

Double said despite growing up to 33 meters (108 feet) long, blue whales are very difficult to find and very little is known about them.

The Australian government says it hopes that improved monitoring of the world's largest animal in the icy Southern Ocean will help prevent its extinction.

The blue whale was nearly wiped out in the early 1900s when industrial whaling killed approximately 250,000 animals.

(Reporting by Pauline Askin; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Loading Slideshow

• A humpback whale tail breaches off Sydney Heads at the beginning of whale watching season during a Manly Whale Watching tour on June 23, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

• A humpback whale emerges from the surface of the Pacific Ocean at the Uramba Bahia Malaga natural park in Colombia, on July 22, 2011. (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images)

• In this picture taken on September 23, 2011, an aquarium employee swims with a whale shark in an aquarium tank in the city of Yantai, northeastern Shandong province.

• A humpback whale is seen breaching outside of Sydney Heads at the beginning of whale watching season during a Manly Whale Watching tour on June 23, 2011 in Sydney, Australia.

• In this photo taken July 21, 2011, a baby gray whale is seen with its mother in the Klamath River in Klamath, Calif.

• Female orca Wikie swims with her calf born by artificial insemination on April 19, 2011 at Marineland animal exhibition park in the French Riviera city of Antibes, southeastern France.

• An 8.5 metre-long juvenile humpback whale remains stranded on Anaconda beach in La Paloma, department of Rocha, in southeastern Uruguay, on January 27, 2011. AFP

• A humpback whale is seen breaching outside of Sydney Heads at the beginning of whale watching season during a Manly Whale Watching tour on June 23, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

• The tail of a humpback whale emerges from the surface of the Pacific Ocean at the Uramba Bahia Malaga natural park in Colombia, on July 22, 2011. (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images)

• Watch As Whale Jumps Out Of Water And Bumps Canoe

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Comments

[WhaleFest]

11:44 AM on 10/24/2012

Mimicking the human voice of his captors, one has to wonder what it is that NOC was trying to say. Perhaps it was: “Please release me from the National Marine Mammal Foundation in San Diego so I can live freely in the wild” or maybe a more rousing cry that: “the whales are not saved yet!”

While applauding the Foundation’s research into marine mammals, NOC’s behaviour is also a sign that keeping whales in captivity and in close association with humans, whether for research or entertainment, is having a significant impact on the natural behaviours of cetaceans.

It is unfair, unrealistic and unnecessary to confine whales, that typically swim immense distances every day, to static pools and we have less to lose and more to gain by championing the many benefits of watching and studying these magnificent mammals in their natural environments.

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the Save the Whales campaign in the UK with the launch of Save the Whales: Reloaded at WhaleFest 2012 in Brighton. Despite the 1982 ban on whaling, the world’s whales have not been saved and they are still not safe.

Now is the time to galvanise the passion and spirit behind the original Save the Whale campaign with a reloaded and reenergised drive to forge a worldwide commitment to protecting whales and dolphins once and for all.

Dylan Walker, Co-Founder Planet Whale
Brighton, UK

[MJH33]

02:29 PM on 10/07/2012

Thats amazing proper use for a submarine.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

08:25 AM on 10/07/2012

the sweetest songs are from the heart of nature♥

[evecaren]

08:40 AM on 10/08/2012

This is such a beautiful heart felt comment, karen. Your reference to the heart of nature
is awesome. Whale songs are particularly awe inspiring.

[karen lyons kalmenson]

08:52 AM on 10/08/2012

thank you so very much, sweet soul evecaren☺☻☺

[Penocea]

01:17 PM on 10/06/2012

I have several recordings of whale sounds which are very soothing if you can find the right combination and frequency. Listening to them can be almost magical.

[Hillrick]

09:18 PM on 10/05/2012

This is awesome. Sound propagation under water is crazy. When you have sound channels created by temperature sound can travel thousands of miles, especially the low frequency types so it is possible that the whales could communicate across such vast expanses. There were even reports of explosions from WII that were still trapped in sound channels and being heard when I was learning sonar in the 80s. We were able to listen to whale songs all the time and I'm happy to hear that some scientific use is being made of the technology.

[kertbert]

08:38 PM on 10/05/2012

Shouldn't post this story. The Japanese or Taiwan fishing fleets will use it to hunt the whales. They don't care about environment.

[ddpalmerr]

05:46 PM on 10/06/2012

First Blue whales aren't hunted by either Japanese or Taiwanese fishermen and second this is not new information it has been known, studied and written about for decades.

[Eric Gates]

02:34 PM on 10/05/2012

2 years ago a blue whale came right at my small sailboat, scaring the stuffing out of me, and then gently arced around the back of the boat to avoid a collision at the LAST MOMENT. That bugger!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gJIQzEEfkY#t=1m45s

[wilburinla]

12:58 PM on 10/05/2012

Huffpost FAIL! Whale sharks are fish; whales are mammals. Big difference.

[PerryWhite]

12:26 PM on 10/05/2012

Do progressives consider whale oil a renewable resource?

[gypsy4ever]

11:45 AM on 10/05/2012

Please don't tell anyone where they are.

[MayaBeach]

11:43 AM on 10/05/2012

I wish the Australian scientists continued success. Not enough is known about these awesome animals.

[Tblack]

11:37 AM on 10/05/2012

One of this planets most incredible creatures. Anything we can do to learn from them and protect them is a good thing.

[rlmyrtlb]

10:42 PM on 10/06/2012

Yes, they were telling us today, the oceans, the life in the oceans need protection, and tout de suite!

In the center of our Pacific they say there are six and one-half lbs. of garbage for every one lb. of plankton. That sure doesn't sound good for Blue Whales.

One scientist wrote that the totality of the oceans are the planet's biggest ecosystem, and in the 21st century that ecosystem is now known to be deteriorating.

If the oceans are no longer a boundless resource oh boy! more famine!


f&f'd

[Red45]

11:27 AM on 10/05/2012

The blue whale is the largest animal ever to exist on earth---many times bigger than the biggest dinosaur---and it is one of the most endangered species on the planet because humans have hunted and killed hundreds of thousands of them and fouled up their environment. It's that human belief that we own everything, including animals and can do whatever we want with them. We have a long way to go before we realize that animals are our brothers and sisters on this little blue planet and, according to scientists, have the same universal consciousness in them that we have in us. Time to wake up.

[morwen]

12:02 PM on 10/05/2012

Time to also get rid of that ridiculous use of the term "research" that the Japanese and Norway continue to use to decimate the remaining populations of whales. They need to get over their "tradition" of eating whale meat. We've domesticated and farmed many animals for consumption as alternatives, including shrimp.

[ddpalmerr]

05:49 PM on 10/06/2012

Sorry but Norway doesn't use the term 'research' and the species they do hunt aren't being decimated they are actually increasing.

[evecaren]

09:26 AM on 10/08/2012

I enjoyed reading your post, Red45. Some people have realized this. For other people,
it is time to wake up; to realize people are animals too. To accept that animals have
feelings and emotions. Animals are our brothers and sisters, I agree with you, Red45. After googling this question : percentage of chimpanzee DNA,
I was presented with a number of websites. Chimpanzee DNA is anywhere between
96% - 98 % similar to human beings. I found a particularly interesting website called
National Geographic News which had the following title : Chimps, Humans 96 Percent
the Same, Gene Study Finds. " Scientists have sequenced the genome (gene sequences)
of the chimpanzee and found that humans are 96 percent similar to the great ape
species. For anyone who wants to read more of this very interesting aricle you
should visit this website. http;//news.nationalgeographic.com Animals are closer in nature
to us than you would think. Some people don't want to believe that animals have
feelings and emotions because of what they means. I'm reminded of the song " Be kind
to your friends, they may be somebody's uncle. To animals who live in families like
whales, wolves, tigers, lions it's very true. It's time people in general showed more kindness and respect to all animals as we, are animals too. We all share mother earth and we
need to protect each other.

[Red45]

12:35 PM on 10/08/2012

Thank you for all the great information.

[Crushedknee]

11:10 AM on 10/05/2012

We need to track everyone of these big ones..Accidents with shipping are a bigger threat to them now than hunting.If we tracked them we could do more to prevent collision when they cross shipping channels.