Researchers immortalize giant songs in frigid Southern Ocean weewee around Antarctica have discovered a alone echo sounding sign that may go to a previously unknown coinage of beaked whale , BBC reports . Thefindingswere published inMarine Mammal Scienceearlier this month .
Beaked whale make up the second - largest family of cetaceans , but being such cryptic , deep foragers , they ’re also some of the most poorly understood . For example , just last year , two Cuvier ’s beaked whalesbroke the mammalian track record for dive depth and duration : 2,992 meters ( 1.8 miles ) below the control surface and 2 hour , 17 minutes , 30 second base .
peck hulk are also the only cetacean known to use FM signals cry upsweep pulses to echolocate — and these signals seem to be species specific . So , an external team result byJennifer Trickey from Scripps Institution of Oceanographyrecorded these kind of sign using a hydrophone regalia towed behind a enquiry vessel glide near the South Scotia Ridge , South Orkney Islands , South Shetland Islands , and Antarctic Peninsula .
The team recorded one signal , foretell Antarctic BW29 , more than 1,000 times during 14 separate recordings , and the timing and type of sound make it rather unique : Its structure does n’t quite fit any known beaked hulk , BBC explain .
With anew uncovering confirm just one year ago , we now know of 22 beaked whale species . And of these , at least five reside in the Southern Ocean south of the South American continent . So far , the squad has rule out Arnoux ’s peck heavyweight , the large of the Antarctic beaked whales , as well as Cuvier ’s pick whales . The signal in spades does n’t fit those produced by these two deep divers .
That leavesGray ’s peck hulk , southern bottlenose heavyweight ( pictured ) , and strap - toothed whale . unluckily , we do n’t have a full description of the FM pulses they produce , though strap - toothed whales are n’t typically recognise at this latitude in the Southern Ocean , unlike the other two . However , if there exists a relationship between body sizing and the oftenness of phone call , then Antarctic BW29 probably did n’t come from a Gray ’s peck heavyweight . And if southern bottlenose giant vocalize like their cousins to the Frederick North , then the call would n’t match these whale either .
to boot , a second unique , higher absolute frequency call ( dubbed Antarctic BW37 ) was recorded on six other occasions , and the team is uncertain who this call belong to to as well . It ’s possible — based on the relationship between whale size and call absolute frequency — that the smaller Gray ’s beaked whale made the high frequency Antarctic BW37 beat type while the southerly bottlenose giant made the Antarctic BW29 call . Or … they were made by an in all new species !
[ BBC ]
Images : shutterstock.com ( top),Southwest Fisheries Science Center / NOAA(middle )
