Antarctic Whale Expedition news

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Watch video with blue whales, nurse sharks, killer whales, and other sea creatures. Listen to the relaxing tunes that they make.

From Wildlife Extra:

The Antarctic Whale Research Expedition

03/03/2010 12:41:52

Blue whale song heard extensively

March 2010. The Antarctic Whale Expedition is now almost half way through its six-week voyage. After departing Wellington on 2 February, the research ship Tangaroa travelled for eight days towards the Antarctic ice edge. The expedition encountered some rough weather initially, however the last few days have provided some good opportunities to launch the small boats and conduct research near the Balleny Islands.

9 species cetacean sighted

Nine species of cetaceans have been sighted: humpback whales, Antarctic Minke whales, Fin whales, Sei whales, Sperm whales, Southern bottlenose whales, Killer whales, an unidentified beaked whale and Hourglass dolphins. South of the Antarctic circle (60ºS) a total of 174 cetacean sightings have been logged, which represent about 309 individual animals. 45 sea bird species have also been logged.

Acoustic survey – Blue whales most commonly heard

Over 50 sonobuoys have been deployed so far. These units record whale vocalisations and transmit them via a radio signal back to the ship. Blue whale sounds have been detected on over half of the deployments, the most commonly recorded species by far, including a high concentration in the centre of the Ross Sea. A distinct song-like sound was recorded in the direct presence of Minke whales, suggesting Minkes may produce a similar, currently unidentified song that is often recorded in the Southern Ocean. Its source has been a mystery for years, but this may be the first evidence that this is an Antarctic Minke whale song. The waters surrounding the Balleny Islands have been filled with the sounds of humpback whales. Sperm whales and Fin whales have also been recorded.

Whale ID

The expedition team have collected 24 humpback biopsy samples and 27 photos of individual humpback flukes. These samples will be archived and form an important collection for improved understanding of linkages between the humpback whales on these southern feeding ground and the breeding grounds across the SouthWest Pacific and eastern Australia.

March 2010. The world’s largest, non-lethal whale research expedition has returned from Antarctic waters with a range of new information that will help inform future marine mammal conservation, here.

USA in favour of resuming Humpback hunt: here.

Scientists discover clues into human diseases by studying dolphins in a changing ocean: here.

Humpback whales change their method of communicating when faced with significant increases in noise level, according to a University of Sydney study published in the international science journal, Proceedings of the Royal Society: here.

A rare hourglass dolphin examined by Massey University scientists is believed to be only the second in 150 years to strand on the New Zealand coast.The 1.7m, 78kg male was found dead at Flea Bay, near Akaroa, on September 5 2010: here.

Researchers studying the DNA in bones of whales killed by early 20th century whale hunters in the Southern Hemisphere, have been piecing together more information about the species that thrived in those oceans in those days: here.