Humpback Whale's change their Song in Response to an Noise Source 200 km Away

PLoSOne reports that Sounds made by technology used to monitor fish stocks may affect how baleen whales communicate, even at great distances.

Marine biologists working in US waters noticed that humpback whales sang less during the fall/autumn of 2006, when a low frequency signal showed up in their recordings. They eventually traced the signal to some acoustic sensing equipment that was part of a scientific study off Maine’s coast, about 120 miles from where they were studying seasonal changes in whale songs in Georges Bank.

The scientists recorded more frequent whale vocalizations during the same time of year in 2008 and 2009, when the study’s Ocean Acoustic Waveguide Remote Sensing equipment was not being used. This suggests the whales reacted to the low-level sounds by silencing their songs.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0029741

Risch D, Corkeron PJ, Ellison WT, Van Parijs SM (2012) Changes in Humpback Whale Song Occurrence in Response to an Acoustic Source 200 km Away. PLoS ONE 7(1): e29741. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029741