Dead M O P Sea Student


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Dead M O P Sea Student

Dead M O P Sea Student

All whales use sound as a form of communication in many ways. A hydrophone is, as its name implies, an underwater microphone, an instrument designed to pick up and listen to underwater noise. Each species of whale and dolphin makes a distinct sound that can be used to identify species even when they aren’t visible at the surface. Using different wavelengths, they have distinct repertoires that have been studied by researchers to build up a still incomplete picture of whale communication.

Whales and Dolphins Are Difficult to Study

Two types of cetaceans roam the earth’s oceans. They can be conveniently divided into baleen (those with baleen plates used to sieve plankton from the water), such as humpback and fin whales, and toothed whales (those with teeth), such as dolphins, sperm whales and our melon-headed friends. Difficult to study, spending most of their lives underwater, whales surface only briefly and often travel over large distances. Their habits make them very difficult subjects to study. Acoustic monitoring and research are a valuable tool for finding out more about the lives of these often-elusive mammals.

Listening for whales began in the 1950s when William Schevill from Woods Hole Institute made the first hydrophone and recorded the sounds of more than 30 marine mammals. In fact, Schevill used his recordings to defuse Cold War tensions when US military picked up sonic blips and assumed soviets were trying to locate US submarines. Schevill was able to show that they were in fact fin whales hunting prey.