Scientists measuring the health of the bay through whale songs

You may have seen a humpback whale… but have you ever heard one?

John Ryan, with the Monterey Bay Research Institute has been studying and listening to these sounds for the last 4 years. He says, “Humpback whales produce some of the most complex sequences of vocalizations known in the animal kingdom.”

Ryan pay attention to changes in the songs over time. He says noises whales make are likely used for a variety of purposes like communicating, having fun, and navigation. However, these sounds also give insight to scientists on the health of the bay. That’s something the team at MBARI notices the first year. “It was the least amount of songs that we were detecting in any of the years,” says Ryan. As it turns out, that first year had a toxic bloom of algae. Ryan says, “that first year coincided with the most toxic bloom of microscopic algae we have ever seen in this bay. It affects marine mammals all the way from here up to Washington.”

MBARI has a cable that runs from their building to an underwater contraption called MARS. MARS records sounds from the ocean, and sends it back to the scientists.

Moving forward, MBARI wants to educate and inspire the next generation, and most importantly, help out our underwater friends.