Studying the otherworldly sounds in Antarctic waters
In freezing Antarctic waters, amid bobbing chunks of floating ice, the hums, pitches and echoes of life in the deep are helping scientists understand the behavior and movements of marine mammals.
"There are species which make impressive sounds, literally like Star Wars, they sound like spaceships," said Colombian scientist Andrea Bonilla, who is carrying out research with underwater microphones off Antarctica's coast.
The biologist from Cornell University in New York submerges a hydrophone covered in titanium and attached to a buoy, into the frigid water. The device is like a camera trap in the wild, except it picks up aquatic sounds.
Her team, part of a Colombian scientific expedition to the Southern Ocean, also picks up devices they left a year prior for analysis.
The biologist from Cornell University in New York submerges a hydrophone covered in titanium and attached to a buoy, into the frigid water. The device is like a camera trap in the wild, except it picks up aquatic sounds.
Her team, part of a Colombian scientific expedition to the Southern Ocean, also picks up devices they left a year prior for analysis.
The research also gives scientists data on how human activity and environmental pollution affect sea life in one of the best conserved parts of the planet.
Nearby, a colony of penguins waddle along a giant block of floating ice.
A humpback whale comes to the surface for some air during a stint in the region for the austral summer—a time for feeding and building up energy before their massive trek to warmer climes around the equator in the breeding season.
'Sound is essential'
Bonilla describes the first time she heard whale song underwater as having "changed her life."
Nearby, a colony of penguins waddle along a giant block of floating ice.
A humpback whale comes to the surface for some air during a stint in the region for the austral summer—a time for feeding and building up energy before their massive trek to warmer climes around the equator in the breeding season.
'Sound is essential'
Bonilla describes the first time she heard whale song underwater as having "changed her life."
Scientists have warned that rising ocean temperatures are impacting whales' body clock and migration cycles, as well as killing off krill, the tiny crustacians they need to fatten up for a journey of thousands of kilometers.
Whale communication has been found to be impacted by noise at sea from shipping and other activity, which can disorient them.
Colombian researcher Andrea Bonilla checks one of the hydrophones used to listen to life in the deep.
Aside from placing new devices in the waters, the team which is part of a Colombian scientific expedition in Antarctica is retrieving those they left a year prior for analysis.