Now that the oceans have quieted down, whales may be having 'more complex conversation'
Her baleen plates are full of secrets. Photo: Stephen Frink/Getty Images If you have found yourself leaning heavily on chat — back-to-back video chats, hyperactive group chats, dating-app chats, hell, maybe even some phone chats — during the isolation age, please know you are not alone. The whales have also been using this period of mandatory downtime to catch up with old friends, taking advantage of the quiet to really shoot the shit.
The Guardian reports that, with global shipping and travel tightly curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic, underwater noise levels have dropped dramatically.
“We have a generation of humpbacks that have never known a quiet ocean,” Michelle Fournet, a marine acoustician at Cornell University who studies Southeast Alaska’s humpbacks, told the Guardian. Typically, heavy maritime traffic impedes whale talk: When things get busy and loud, Fournet said, whales call less . But now, she added, “I expect what we might see is an opportunity for whales to have more conversation, and to have more complex conversation.
I am imaging this conversation as the oceanic equivalent of an Entmoot, one whale singing the news of the day in long lowing tones, or hashing out inter-pod drama with a band of its brethren.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Truth About Jessica Alba Divorcing Husband Cash WarrenJessica Alba and Cash Warren's 12-year marriage doesn’t stop the tabloids from predicting the couple will divorce any day now. Gossip Cop investigated.
Read more »
Kourtney Kardashian stuns in racy bikini snap after dismissing pregnancy rumoursKourtney Kardashian has recently denied she's expecting again and insisted she was baffled by the gossip after being quizzed by a fan
Read more »
Kristen Bell Breaks Down Her Career, from 'Gossip Girl' to 'Frozen'Kristen Bell takes us through her legendary career, including her roles in ‘Polish Wedding,’ ’Spartan,’ ‘Veronica Mars,’ ‘Gossip Girl,’ ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall,’ ‘Frozen,’ ‘Bad Moms,’ ’The Good Place,’ ‘Encore!’ and latest venture, her and husband Dax Shepard’s company Hello Bello, an affordable, premium baby product line.
Read more »
Right whales: Lawsuit on protections could last for monthsA judge’s ruling that the federal government didn’t take adequate steps to protect endangered whales will probably result in another monthslong court battle.
Read more »
Selena Gomez 'Embarrassingly' Tries to Follow Workouts on YouTube While Social Distancing'I'm trying to do what the woman is telling me to do, but she looks so glamorous doing it,' Selena Gomez said of doing YouTube workout videos
Read more »
A Guide to Understanding How to Treat Low Porosity HairYou've been doing it all wrong.
Read more »