Friday, April 25, 2014

Scientists Identify Mysterious Sound in the Southern Ocean

Scientists have been recording a mysterious sound coming from the Southern Ocean for decades. This unique, rhythmic sound was first heard by submarine personnel in the 1960's. They called it, "bio-duck" because, (you guessed it!) they thought it sounded like a duck. The culprit behind the bio-duck had remained a mystery, until now.




Scientists have tied the sound to the elusive Antarctic Minke Whale. In February 2013, an international team of researchers managed to deploy acoustic tags upon two Antarctic Minke Whales off the Western Antarctic Peninsula. These were the first successful acoustic tags placed on the species. These tags have provided much more information about the species other than the bio-duck noise itself, including its annual habitual migration. Although researchers have concluded the source behind the  bio-duck sound, the reason why they make it still remains one of the many mysteries of the ocean.

Original article:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140423132614.htm

1 comment:

  1. I have never heard of this specieas of whales until your blog. They seem like extraodinary creatures of the sea. I do believe that more knowledge is beneficial and the fact that scientists were able to place the tags successfully to caoture acoustic sounds will help us understond more. I also belive that some things should remain a mystery especially in this amazing sea creature.

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