Song of one of rarest whales on planet recorded for first time

There are only about 30 north Pacific right whales left after hunters nearly wiped out the slow-moving animals

Associated Press

Thu 20 Jun 2019 06.08 BSTLast modified on Thu 20 Jun 2019 09.09 BST

Marine biologists for the first time have recorded singing by one of the rarest whales on the planet, the north Pacific right whale.

Researchers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) used moored acoustic recorders to capture repeated patterns of calls made by male north Pacific right whales.

It is the first time right whale songs in any population have been documented, said NOAA Fisheries marine biologist Jessica Crance on Wednesday.

Researchers detected four distinct songs over eight years at five locations in the Bering Sea off Alaska’s south-west coast, Crance said.

Only about 30 of the animals remain. Whalers nearly wiped out the slow-moving whales, which remain buoyant after they are killed.

Humpback, bowhead and other whales are known for their songs, but during a field survey in 2010, NOAA Fisheries researchers noted weird sound patterns they could not identify. “We thought it might be a right whale, but we didn’t get visual confirmation,” Crance said.

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