When Whales Wail

North Atlantic right whales have something to sing about:  a new underwater listening network, designed to protect the endangered whales from deadly collisions with ships, maps the location of whale calls in the heavily trafficked waters of Massachusetts Bay. The data provided by the network of 13 auto-detection buoys--designed by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology--are included in maritime warnings and posted on a public Web site. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration requests that ships entering right whale territory slow to ten knots to avoid the slow-moving, 70-ton aquatic mammals.

Want more whale stories? Check out Daniel Duane’s humpback encounter in Sierra magazine, or read David Rothenberg’s new book, Thousand Mile Song:  Whale Music in a Sea of Sound. The book includes an audio CD with music composed by jazz clarinetist Rothenberg, accompanied by belugas, orcas, and humpbacks.

--D.W.

Source:  Science Daily