Whales are struggling to make themselves heard above the din in the oceans.
The same adaptations that allowed animals like the blue whale to communicate underwater now mean they can’t be heard above the propellers and generators of ocean-crossing boats.
The cacophony in the oceans is preventing whales from making themselves heard.
New research, published in Nature, reveals that the way baleen whale throats have evolved prevents them from singing outside the range of noise made by our ships. This means blue, grey and minke whales are finding it increasingly difficult to communicate in an increasingly noisy ocean.
Professor Coen Elemans, the lead author of the research, says, ‘Compared to the seventies, our oceans are now even more filled with human-made noise from shipping lanes, drilling activity and seismic guns. We need strict regulations on this noise, because these whales are dependent on sound for communication. We’ve show that despite their amazing physiology, they literally cannot escape the noise humans make in the oceans.’
Dr Agnese Lanzetti, who studies whale evolution at the Natural History Museum and was not involved in the research, adds, ‘Our disturbances take place on a scale of tens or hundreds of years, but evolution takes thousands or millions of years so it’s unlikely baleen whales will adapt to this noise any time soon. While specialised cartilage in some species, like the humpback whale, makes them better able to sing over anthropogenic noise, those without it are more likely to be lost if we don’t make efforts to quieten our ships.’
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Posted On: 22/02/2024