<
https://theconversation.com/squeak-up-i-cant-hear-you-pilot-whales-are-shouting-to-hear-themselves-over-ship-noise-282394>
"In the Strait of Gibraltar – a famous marine road connecting the Mediterranean
and the Atlantic – lives a critically endangered sub-population of a few
hundred long-finned pilot whales (
Globicephala melas).
Despite their name, these dark and blubbery marine mammals aren’t technically
whales – they’re large oceanic dolphins which are believed to have a navigator
or lead for each pod. Hence the “pilot” part of their name.
There are two types of pilot whales – short and long-finned. They’re generally
found in deep offshore waters but can appear in coastal areas. And like other
dolphins, they use high frequency sounds to talk to each other in their pods.
These clicks and squeaks travel shorter distances compared with the melodic
songs of humpback whales.
And as a new paper led by Milou Hegeman from Aarhus University in Denmark and
published in the
Journal of Experimental Biology shows, the pilot whales that
live in the Strait of Gibraltar are having to shout at the upper limit of their
range in order to hear each other over human noises."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
