BLUE WHALES CAN BE TRACKED BY THEIR SONG : NEW DISCOVERY HAS ALLOWED A BLUE WHALE TO BE TRACKED

The largest animal on earth, the great blue whale, is now trackable by following the acoustic emanations in its song.

A group of Australian scientists has been able to follow a blue whale from Antarctica to their wintering grounds in the Southern Ocean.

That is because their song is so complex and diverse, that each of the whales has its own 'vocal imprint'.  

 

The researchers spent seven weeks following the mammal in small boats in the Antarctic waters, and were able to document the incredible behavior these mammals exhibit.  

The blue whale can reach over 90 feet in adulthood, and weigh up to 180 tonnes.  The tongue of a blue whale can weigh more than an elephant, while their heart can be as big as a small car.

Satellite tags had been attached to two whales who were then followed during their summer feeding season.  This is very important because it gives scientists clues to the animal's eating behavior and habitat.  Up to now, no one knew where these giants were when they were not clustered in their breeding grounds.  

The scientists deployed acoustic buoys west of the Ross sea, to pick up the whales' song.  The sound a blue whale makes can travel underwater for nearly hundreds of miles away.  

By triangulating the buoys signals, the scientists were able to position the whales and follow them with their boats.  

This study is very important to the safeguard of whales, because it vacates the need to kill whales for 'scientific' purposes, and could be a valid argument in suppressing Japan's whale kill in the Antarctica each year.  

Blue whales were almost estinguished by the whaling hunts of previuos centuries, when almost 400,000 specimens were killed.  It is of foremost importance to safeguard the remaining animals. 

Australia is at the forefront of the effort to save the blue whale.

Source: France 24/ 3.27.13