Scientists have discovered that dolphins are genetically close to humans. Now they’ve learned that humpback whales have a type of brain cell that is seen only in humans, the great apes, and dolphins, and there may be a very special reason for this.
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A lone whale that makes sounds unlike any known species has marine biologists baffled. The whale has been wandering the Pacific for 12 years, but scientists have been unaware of it because its voice was only being picked up by classified US Navy equipment.
Using declassified data, marine biologists have determined that the whale’s voice, pitched at 52 hertz, does not match any known species. Whales generally call between 15 and 20 hertz. While some species use higher frequencies, none are near 52 hertz.
The calls have gotten deeper over the years, suggesting that the whale has matured. Marine biologists doubt that the whale represents a new species. No call like it has been heard anywhere in the world.
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Newly-hatched ducklings have been known to follow afarmer around, thinking he’s Mom. Now an orphaned killerwhale, who was rescued from the busy Puget Sound, isrejecting her family for the company of boats.
When the two-year-old baby named Springer hears the sound ofa boat engine, she swims over and rubs against the hull.”When [the whales] are moving along slowly, cruising orfeeding, she is fine,” says Lance Barrett-Lennard of theVancouver Aquarium. “It is when she is alone she seeks thecompanionship of boats.”
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A Japanese satellite to monitor the migration of minke whales will be launched in October. It will collect data from coconut-sized electronic tags that have been attached to whales using airguns. Used in combination with global positioning system technology, the tags should provide information on migratory routes as well as data on how deep the whales swim and how often they surface, says Tomonao Hayashi of the Chiba Institute of Technology, who helped develop the satellite system.
Satellite monitoring technology is used by groups around the world for scientific research into whale migration patterns. But some people fear the Japanese satellite will use the information to provide detailed data for use by the country?s whaling fleet.
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