Whale Song

I have not real comment here other than I find this piece of data on the songs of blue whales quite interesting:

The best records exist for the whales off California, and they showed that the whales sing at a frequency 31% lower than they did in the 1960s, when blue whales around the world had been commercially hunted to the brink of extinction.

The article notes that the frequency of blue whale song has been decreasing over time in all areas of the world. Read the article for conjecture on the "why" - but it may simply be that higher populations of blue whales means their song doesn't have to travel as far to reach others so they can sing at a lower frequency and still be heard over other noises in the ocean.

Whale Video

The NYTimes had an article about grey whales in their calving grounds in baja and talked about how they were oddly social creatures - coming directly up to the boats of watchers as if seeking interaction - even with their new calves - a time when most animals are very protective and skittish. The article discusses a time not long ago (when the whales were hunted) that the whales were feared for smashing boats rather than what we see in the video below.

The article discusses some of the scientific data detailing how modern technology - especially powerful sonars and seismic tests - seem to be related to injuring whales. Some beached whales are found in correlation with such tests and are found with bleeding around their brain and ears. I'd heard a bit about this, but this was the first time I'd taken time to read details.

Here's the story. It's pretty good - but a long read.

Here's a good video from YouTube: