https://www.futurity.org/beluga-whales-shipping-noise-alaska-3007222-2/
"Beluga whales are highly social and vocal marine mammals. They use acoustics
to navigate, find prey, avoid predators, and maintain group cohesion. For
Alaska’s critically endangered Cook Inlet beluga population, these crucial
communications may compete with noises from human activities.
The new research is the first to document the complex vocal repertoire of the
Cook Inlet beluga whale population. It is also the first to quantify how ship
noise may be masking specific beluga calls in this region.
The study, published in the
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America,
finds 41 distinct types of calls, of which 18 are unique to this population.
“The core critical habitat for these whales is a very noisy area. Commercial
shipping, an international airport, military operations, and gas and oil
exploration are all concentrated there,” says lead author Arial Brewer, a
doctoral student in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the
University of Washington who did the work in collaboration with NOAA Fisheries’
Alaska Fisheries Science Center.
“A fundamental knowledge gap for the Cook Inlet beluga population is how they
communicate important information. The first step is to describe their vocal
repertoire,” she says. “With that information, we can begin to understand if
their communication is impacted by human-caused noise.”"
Via Rixty Dixet.
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
