Ships run off the ocean song of humpback whales

The sounds emitted by humpback whales are like "ocean singing".

In a study published Oct. 24, Japanese researchers say these oceanic giants will stop the cry, at least temporarily, as ocean vessels approach.

The study, published in this journal PLOS ONE, was conducted by the Association of Ogasawara and Hokkaido University.

The researchers focused on the Ogasawara archipelago 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo, where a cargo ship and passengers pass through once a day.

Male humpback whales use cries to communicate and attract mates.

males use cries to communicate and attract partners. Using underwater headphones to monitor whale responses, the researchers found that they would be silent when the train approached.

Specifically, the number of "singing" whales decreases within a radius of 500m around the ship's travel area. After the ship passed, the whales in a radius of about 1,200m tended to temporarily reduce their cries or stop the sound, even half an hour after the ship left many remained silent.

In the context of increasing noise in recent decades, some experts say the findings raise questions about how other whales can change behavior when their presence is present. more and more people in the sea.

Linda Weilgart, a researcher at Dalhousie University, said the humpback whale's reaction was "noteworthy" , especially when the noise emitted by a ship was not very large.

According to the expert, more research is needed to determine whether this reaction is temporary or not, because factors such as stress levels need to be considered and tested.

Experts Linda Weilgart also stressed that it is unclear what behavior to stop the cries, an important behavior related to the reproduction of humpback whales, how it affects the fertility of this species.

Researchers have not yet examined the impact of noise from the ship to female whales and whales.

Policy expert at Swiss-based OceanCare Wildlife Support Group warned that the findings "that our planet has become too noisy for whales".