The mighty blue whale is the largest and loudest mammal on earth. Yet its voice is getting lost in the chaotic cacophony of sounds generated by human activities, from offshore development and energy exploration to commercial shipping. Christopher Clark, director of the Bioacoustics Research Program (BRP) at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, has made it his mission to speak up for the whale. He recently spoke to a record-breaking audience of 8,500 visitors during the “Science Sunday” series at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
At about 100 feet long and 190 tons, the blue whale’s voice spans oceans, belting out songs off the coast of Ireland that have been recorded off Virginia at least 2,600 nautical miles away. For the blue whale and all marine mammals, sound is critical for communication, navigation, finding food, and detecting predators.
“Marine mammals produce a complex array of sounds, all important to their very survival, and we’re drowning them out,” Clark told AMNH visitors.
Using small models, Ashik Rahaman (pictured) showed children how the BRP uses high-tech underwater recording units to monitor marine mammals. According to the Department of the Interior, airgunning for oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic will injure or kill 138,500 dolphins and whales, including the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale, of which only an estimated 450 remain.
“We need to encourage and accelerate the development of noise-reduction technologies on commercial ships,“ Clark said. "We need to reduce the demand for foreign-made products being shipped across the oceans. We need federal regulations on ocean noise pollution to change so we’re focusing on the long-term effects of noise to marine mammals rather than the short-term.”
What can you do to help?
1. Contact your Senators and Representatives in Congress to express concern over ocean noise.
2. Keep track of North Atlantic right whales with the Whale Alert app which shows where the whales are located off the coast of Massachusetts in real time. Download via iTunes.
3. More than 97 percent of the products consumed in the world today traverse the ocean on more than 100,000 commercial ships. Try to buy products that didn’t cross an ocean to get here.
4. Support fisheries with sustainable practices using the free, multi-platform Seafood Watch app provided by the Monterey Bay Aquarium
5. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Products that have the highest impact in the marine environment are plastic soda can holders, balloons, plastic bags, and discarded fishing line, nets and hooks.
6. Support cruise lines and other ocean activity industries committed to environmentally responsible behavior.
