Research: Scientists track fin whales by their earthshaking calls
When Seattle scientists set out to monitor earthquakes off the Northwest coast, they expected their underwater seismometers to occasionally pick up booming voice of the fin whale. But what they wound up with was such a cacophony that they had trouble zeroing in on the actual tremors.
To separate small quakes from hundreds of thousands of whale calls, he and his students were forced to write their own automated program. Now, they’re mining that mountain of discarded data for insights into fin whales.
“Basically, we can track the whales using techniques very similar to the ones we use to locate earthquakes,” Wilcock said.
Fin whales remain in mystery because they’re so challenging to study. Nobody knows where they give birth or even why they sing.
“The thing that’s neat about this is that we are basically piggybacking on experiments that were designed for something completely different.”
Already, the team discovered some whales migrate north in the fall a time when most of the whales would be headed south to breed.
Learning more about the species’ movements, behavior and communication could bolster efforts to protect fin whales from further harm, now that they are beginning to rebound from decades of whaling.
Source: X
Earth-shaking Whale calls
stuff.co.nzUS scientists have found chatter from fin whales is so loud it is shaking the Earth.
Stop Illegal Whaling in Greenland
thepetitionsite.com- Target: Greenland Ministry of Domestic Affairs, Nature and Environment, Mrs. Talea Weissang
- Sponsored by: Animal Advocates
On December 31, 2012, Greenland decided to ignore the International Whaling Commision and increase the unauthorized fishing quota to hunt and kill Fin Whales begining in January.
The fin whale is listed as endangered throughout its range under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and is listed as “depleated” throughout its range under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Many whale populations have been hunted to near extinction, and some have not yet recovered from industrial whaling.
The International Whaling Commission says requested quota increase was aimed at boosting sales of whale meat in tourist restaurants, not at providing sustenance for indigenous peoples. Increasing the commercial sale of whale meat is part of a food-oriented tourism campaign and to satisfy the culinary curiosity of tourists.
Tell Greenland to stop ignoring the sound science of the International Whaling Commission, and to keep the whaling quota.
Cool whale facts
Fin whales, the second largest animals ever to have lived on Earth, eat about 4,000 pounds of food a day. This takes them about three hours, almost exactly equal to the amount of time a human takes to find food in a day. In fact, a fin while is arguably a much more efficient eater and hunter than a human, as hunter-gatherer societies spend many more than three hours a day meeting their dietary energy needs.
What the whales do or talk about for the remaining twenty-one hours of a day is not well understood, though singing and playing undoubtedly make up a large portion of the time.
Baltimore Whale Remains Dumped At Sea
afloat.ieThe carcass of the fin whale that died after being trapped in Baltimore Harbour two months ago has been towed out to sea after its presence in a conservation area attracted complaints.
According to the Irish Examiner, disappointment has been expressed by a local group in Baltimore who hoped to salvage the skeleton of the 65ft female fin whale, the remains of which have now been towed out beyond Fastnet Rock for disposal.
Last week Afloat.ie reported on claims from local resident Tom McCarthy, among others from the Schull area, that the whale carcass was creating a “rancid oil slick” with a “horrendous smell” in Roaringwater Bay, a Special Area of Conservation for marine wildlife that houses a grey seal breeding ground.
However, the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) - which was working with Baltimore residents on their plan to retrieve the bones with a view to displaying the skeleton in the town - criticised the decision by Cork County Council to dump the remains.
IWDG sightings co-ordinator Pádraig Whooley pointed the finger at “vested interests” exaggerating claims about health hazards, arguing that “towing it out to sea raises the very real possibility that [it] could simply wash up on the coast again.”
The Irish Examiner has more on the story HERE.
Fin whale makes rare trip through Strait of Georgia
vancouversun.comA massive fin whale cruised up the Strait of Georgia to Johnstone Strait this week for the first time in recorded history.
“It was photographed off Campbell River and off Nanaimo. It is the first con-firmed sighting of a fin whale in Georgia Strait,” said Jared Towers, a Fisheries and Oceans cetacean research technician who has spent the summer doing photo identification of the growing number of fin whales in Hecate Strait and Caamano Sound.
Towers is poring through records from whaling days to figure out whether fin whales are expanding their territory or heading back to traditional areas.
The other alternative is that the krill-eating whale was sightseeing and may not have had any particular reason for taking a look at the Strait of Georgia, he said.
The massive whale turned up in Johnstone Strait Wednesday - one year to the day that two whales turned up in the same area.
That was the first time fin whales had been documented in Robson Bight.
“But this is a different one from the two we saw last year,” Towers said.
Fin whales, the second largest animal on earth after blue whales, are listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act.
The population is starting to recover after being almost wiped out during decades of whaling, but there is no accurate estimate of how many fin whales are in the Pacific Ocean.
This summer, Towers photographed 70 individual fin whales as part of the DFO population survey.
