Name: The intriguing sound of marine mammals
Uploaded: 2010-06-16T08:53:00Z
Duration: 18 min 11 s
Description: Peter Tyack of Woods Hole talks about a hidden wonder of the sea: underwater sound. Onstage at Mission Blue, he explains the amazing ways whales use sound and song to communicate across hundreds of miles of ocean.

Peter Tyack of Woods Hole talks about a hidden wonder of the sea: underwater sound. Onstage at Mission Blue, he explains the amazing ways whales use sound and song to communicate across hundreds of miles of ocean.

The intriguing sound of marine mammals

Marine mammals rely on sound to communicate, navigate, and connect over vast distances, with whale songs traveling hundreds of miles underwater. Ship noise has shrunk the range of whale communication from a thousand kilometers to just ten, disrupting mating and survival. In one striking case, the entire east coast humpback whale population abandoned their traditional song for a new tune from the west. Solutions like quieter ships and rerouted shipping lanes show promise for protecting these acoustic lifelines.