On Humpback vocalization with and without cruise ships:
Fournet spent the winter and spring listening to the hydrophone’s recordings
and compared them to the previous year’s. The analysis shows that even in the
absence of cruise ships, the humpbacks made about the same number of kinds of
calls. But her initial data, which has yet to be published, shows one key
change: the humpbacks made a certain kind of call, which she calls a whup, much
less often.
In the summer of 2019, about 66 percent of humpback whale calls were whups. In
2020, when median noise levels were three times lower, the frequency of the
whales’ whups fell to less than 50 percent.
Fournet also compared her tally of calls to recordings of humpbacks made in
1976 by researcher Roger Payne, who was studying the whales in nearby Frederick
Sound.
…….
Fournet’s finding is among the early results from studies leveraging the
so-called anthropause—a name coined for the sudden slowing or shutdown of human
activity around the world because of COVID-19 lockdowns—that hint at the
subtler impacts of noise pollution on marine life.
….
Scientists know that noise pollution can make it more difficult for marine
animals to hear each other, find food, and navigate, and can also result in
hearing damage. But Fournet says they are just beginning to look at the more
subtle impacts, such as how a change in call proportion could affect the
quality of interactions.
https://www.hakaimagazine.com/news/in-the-absence-of-cruise-ships-humpbacks-have-different-things-to-say/?omhide=true&utm_source=Hakai+Magazine+Weekly&utm_campaign=6b1de4cba1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_09_06_COPY_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0fc1967411-6b1de4cba1-121686094
Shirley Johnson
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<((((º>.·´¯'·.¸¸.·´¯'·.¸><((({º>¸.·´¯'·.¸. ,.><((({º>¸.·´¯'·.Shirley Johnson
