🐋 As the pandemic slows down shipping, the oceans have become quieter. Scientists are using the chance to learn more about whales' communication — which could potentially inform new policies to protect them.
Christine Gabriele/National Park Service photo taken under National Marine Fisheries Service Scientific Research Permit #21059Christine Gabriele/National Park Service photo taken under National Marine Fisheries Service Scientific Research Permit #21059Christine Gabriele/National Park Service photo taken under National Marine Fisheries Service Scientific Research Permit #21059
."When you have animals that for millions of years have been able to communicate over vast distances in the ocean, and then once we introduce noise and have increased sound levels and they can't communicate over those distances, clearly there's going to be some impact there."have kept it up by taking solo boat trips to track the humpback population. The data they collect --counting and identifying whales — continues record-keeping that goes back 35 years.
"Whales use sound in almost every aspect of their daily life," she says."Studying the underwater sound environment is really important because it helps us see the world the way the whales actually use it." The amount of cargo handled by the Port of Vancouver dropped in February and March, but Barclay says he's still sorting out how that affected ship traffic. Cargo ships may have been smaller than normal or traveled at different speeds. Local ferry traffic has also decreased because of the pandemic.
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