USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    Home / World

    Singing whales are music to the ears of scientists

    By Agencies in Sydney | China Daily | Updated: 2013-03-28 07:16

     Singing whales are music to the ears of scientists

    A boy crawls out of a life-size replica of a blue whale heart during a preview of Whales: Giant of the Deep, the latest special exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, on March 20. Emmanuel Dunand / Agence France-Presse

    Singing whales are music to the ears of scientists

    An Australian-led group of scientists has for the first time tracked down and tagged Antarctic blue whales by using acoustic technology to follow their songs, the nation's government said on Wednesday.

    The blue whale, the largest animal on the planet, is rarely spotted in the Southern Ocean but a group of intrepid researchers were able to locate and tag some of the mammals after picking up their deep and complex vocals.

    Researcher Virginia Andrews-Goff said it was the first time acoustics have been used to lead researchers to the whales in real time, with those monitoring the whale noises working around the clock to pinpoint them.

    "They are quite, almost alien-like, deep resonating sounds. They are quite intense. Very interesting to listen to."

    Australian Environment Minister Tony Burke said: "The achievements of this non-lethal research method clearly show it is not necessary to kill whales in order to study them."

    The group plans to present its results at this year's meeting of the International Whaling Commission, the international body set up to manage whales.

    Giant mammal

    Burke said the researchers, who spent seven weeks working from small boats in freezing Antarctic conditions, were captivated by the remarkable behavior of the whales they saw.

    "The Antarctic blue whale can grow to more than 30 meters in length and weigh up to 180 tons - its tongue alone is heavier than an elephant, and its heart is as big as a small car," Burke said.

    "Even the largest dinosaur was smaller than the blue whale."

    Andrews-Goff said the scientists were often out in boats only six meters in length, sitting alongside the 30-meter giants.

    "I felt like an ant next to one of these massive whales. They are huge," she said.

    The scientists collected 23 biopsy samples and attached satellite tags to two of the whales, giving them never-before obtained data on the animals' movements during their summer feeding season and their foraging behavior.

    "This method of studying Antarctic blue whales has been so successful it will now become the blueprint for other whale researchers across the world," Andrews-Goff predicted.

    She said while one tag stopped working after 17 days, the second was still working after two weeks, although erratically.

    "We know very little about Antarctic blue whales' movement, we don't really know migration patterns, we don't really know if some animals migrate and some animals don't," she said.

    AFP-Reuters

    (China Daily 03/28/2013 page10)

    Today's Top News

    Editor's picks

    Most Viewed

    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    中文字幕无码无码专区| 免费无码毛片一区二区APP| 无码人妻精品一区二区三区66| 中文字幕无码毛片免费看| 中文无码伦av中文字幕| 91中文字幕在线观看| 精品人妻系列无码人妻免费视频| 免费无码av片在线观看| 2022中文字字幕久亚洲| 久久无码人妻精品一区二区三区| 亚洲av无码片vr一区二区三区| 中文字幕精品久久| 日韩乱码人妻无码中文字幕久久 | 亚洲AV永久无码精品一百度影院 | 无码H黄肉动漫在线观看网站| 日韩精品人妻一区二区中文八零| 丰满熟妇人妻Av无码区| 无码人妻品一区二区三区精99| 国产综合无码一区二区辣椒| 中文精品久久久久人妻| а中文在线天堂| √天堂中文www官网| 国产区精品一区二区不卡中文| 亚洲国产av无码精品| 国产在线观看无码免费视频| 成在人线av无码免费高潮水| 久久久无码人妻精品无码| 久久久无码一区二区三区| 精品无码国产自产拍在线观看| 人妻av无码一区二区三区| 无码中文av有码中文a| 无码精品国产VA在线观看DVD | 最近2022中文字幕免费视频| 中文资源在线官网| 手机在线观看?v无码片| 精品无码一级毛片免费视频观看| 国产无码一区二区在线| 精品无码国产污污污免费网站国产| 无码少妇一区二区浪潮av| 精品久久亚洲中文无码| 日本不卡中文字幕|