![]() A group of scientists in Australia recorded humpback whale songs from six different populations across the southern hemisphere, and found that song segments often originate in the East Australian population, before moving east through the South Pacific. Scientists have discovered recently that segments of song often move between these populations. Because of this they form distinct populations. Humpback whales tend to return every year to the grounds on which they were born. Following this, Ocean Alliance scientists discovered that the songs were differed between populations of humpback whales. Katy Payne, Roger’s wife at the time, also discovered that all humpback whales in a given area sing versions of the same song, which changes throughout the course of the season. The library totals more than 6,000 hours of sounds and is the largest collection of humpback recordings. ![]() Ocean Alliance’s whale song library now contains more than 1,500 recordings from fourteen different geographic regions. Payne and his colleagues at Ocean Alliance have gathered songs from humpback populations throughout the world. “When I heard the sounds that those whales made, it had such a profound effect on me that I wanted everyone to hear them, and the idea of making a record was born.” “Few experiences have had a deeper effect on me - it changed my life,” Dr. This discovery was a landmark moment in the birth of modern whale biology and in the trajectory of Dr. Upon studying the intricate vocalizations of the humpback whales, they realized that what they were hearing were fixed rhythmic patterns of repeated sound: in other words, song. ![]() Payne travelled to Bermuda to meet with Frank Watlington. In 1967, with colleagues Katy Payne and Scott McVay, Dr. However, this was at a time when commercial whaling was driving many species of whale to the brink of extinction, and the story goes that he didn’t tell anyone about the sounds, for fear whalers would use them to find and hunt whales.Įventually, Watlington was put in touch with bio-acoustician and Ocean Alliance Founder Dr. Watlington soon came to believe that these otherworldly sounds were being made by humpback whales that spent the winter off the coast of Bermuda. During certain times of the year, Watlington began hearing unusual and eerie sounds coming from the ocean, and started recording these strange sounds. In the 1950s, US Navy engineer Frank Watlington was working in Bermuda at a top secret listening station built to detect Russian submarines during the height of the Cold War. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |