In Antarctica New Technology Used to Record Whale Songs

Up to 26,545 blue whale songs in the Antarctic were captured by scientists in a study. They used - for the first time - new acoustical detection and tracking techniques to locate and observe them.

The work was carried out by researchers from Germany, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, the US, France, Norway, Britain, South Africa and New Zealand, all of whom are participating in the ongoing Antarctic Blue Whale Project to study the world's largest animal.

Companies Find New Ways to Exploit Whales
Companies in Japan, Iceland and Norway are developing whale-based products ranging from drugs to cosmetics to animal feed, banking on the resumption of global trade, according to a report.

Some 18 experts in acoustics and in classification of the whales, as well as engineers and observers, departed in January on a seven-week trip to the Ross Sea with the aim of deploying acoustic devices known as sonobuoys to study the population, distribution and behavior of the whales.

The result was 626 hours of audio registered in real time including 26,545 songs - or vocalizations - produced by the gigantic beasts, according to the project's head acoustician, Brian Miller, with the Australian Antarctic Division.

The blue whale - or Balaenoptera musculus - makes a very deep and resonant call that can be captured underwater hundreds of kilometers away, Miller said in a statement.

Killer Whales Have Longer Menopause to Care for Adult Sons: Study
The reason why female killer whales have the longest menopause of any non-human species - to care for their adult sons, researchers found in a new study.

The International Whaling Commission has calculated that in 2000 the population of blue whales in the Southern Hemisphere was between 400 and 1,400.

Blue whales are the largest animals on earth, growing up to 31 meters long and weighing 170,000 kg or more.

Penguins Altered Diet When Humans Began Hunting Whales and Seals
Adelie penguins living in Antarctica switched from eating fish to krill (shrimp-like marine invertebrate animals) around the time that humans began hunting seals and whales, ancient

Source-IANS

Southern Right Whales Finds Local Fathers Most Successful: Paternity Study
The first paternity study of southern right whales has found a surprisingly high level of local breeding success for males.