New Blue Whale Population Discovered after Scientists Hear Unknown Song
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Runaway1956:
New Blue Whales Discovered After Scientists Hear Unknown Song:
In a study published in the journal Endangered Species Research last week, scientists analyzed underwater recordings from the Arabian Sea, extending from the coast of Oman as far south as Madagascar. The team of researchers came across an unfamiliar kind of whale song that had never before been documented in 2017, sparking an international effort to discover the new singer.
[...] As the group analyzed the novel tune, it became clear that it was sung by a previously undiscovered population of blue whales in the western Indian Ocean. As they continued to amass data, they found that the new population likely spends most of its time in the northwestern Indian Ocean.
The exciting discovery is a glimmer of hope for blue whales, which have been pushed to the brink of extinction and are currently listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. In the 1800s and into the 1900s, the commercial whaling industry nearly wiped them out. Thanks to environmental protections, blue whale populations have been increasing around the world in the past half-century, but the species still faces global threats, chiefly due to habitat loss from climate-induced changes to ocean temperature and pH levels, as well as marine pollution. Ships also put the largest creatures on Earth at risk of being struck or getting tangled in fishing lines.
Journal Reference:
Salvatore Cerchio, Andrew Willson, Emmanuelle C. Leroy, et al. A new blue whale song-type described for the Arabian Sea and Western Indian Ocean; Endang Species Res. Vol. 43: 495-515, 2020 https://doi.org/10.3354/esr01096
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