2007-10-23, Blue Whale Calls - 蓝鲸的声音（在线收听） |
| Our oceans are alive with sound. Sound that most of us never hear. But there is one man who is definitely listening. "The blue whales in the eastern North Pacific off the California coast make two primary types of calls. You know one is this very pulsive, called 'Wu Wu Wu'." This rhythmic throbbing drumbeat is the A call. "And another is a more constant call that, you know, kind of a, a low moan that throbs slightly in frequency" In fact the B calls blast at such low frequency our human ears barely register the sound. Equipped with an underwater crittercam from National Geographic, John and his team head to the waters off the central coast of California to eavesdrop on their calls. Blue whales travel there to feed in the largest underwater gorge on the west coast of the United States. The water is rich with krill. The team deploys the crittercam on the back of a blue whale. "Begin. Searching cup is on." What the footage reveals is a deep water dive nearly a 1000 feet down in the search for a swarm of krill. Yet another crittercam picks up a faint drumbeat just what John has been waiting for. It is the unmistakable beat of a blue whale's A call. As a shape emerges from the darkness, another blue whale. The team discovers that perhaps this solitary giant isn't so isolated after all. The calls may not be about food but may be about companionship instead. "Just really need to see that we have one of the things we have been really hoping to get which is some underwater footage carrying a call. I'm excited, I am tantalized that I am wanting more." |
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