A new study, reported in the New Scientist, involving North Atlantic right whales, has discovered that in order to be heard over the increased noise of today’s ocean, they have increased the volume of their calls to each other. The whale equivalent of talking loudly when stood next to a busy road with cars rushing past.
Communication is important to all whales, they call to attract mates and to find lost calves. If they cannot communicate with each other, it is bad news for the species, as it is possible they may stop talking all together, if the noise becomes just too loud.
Though the study only focused on a small specific group of whales off the west coast of the US, it does have implications on the effects of shipping routes and how they coincide with whales, especially their feeding and mating areas, and possibly their migration routes.
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