“The ocean becomes silent”: whales hardly sing because of global warming and it worries scientists

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Why do blue whales hardly sing anymore? – "the ocean becomes silent": whales

The researchers published their conclusions at the end of last July. Similarly, They thus noticed a significant decrease in the song of a kind of large cetacean: the blue whale. Nevertheless, According to the study. Similarly, there was a 40 % decrease in the song of these marine mammals, in certain parts of the earth.

The slow disappearance of the song of blue whales would actually be due … Furthermore, to global warming! Furthermore, Yes, “the ocean becomes silent”: whales the study highlights the link that exists between their decrease and the marine heat wave. Similarly, According to the researchers. the unusual warming of water, which began in 2013, when “The Blob” (nickname given to a large mass of hot and dense water) moved to the waters off the west coast of the United States, from the Bering Sea and the Golf of Alaska, is responsible.

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For what ? Because. in just a few weeks, this warming caused the death of the Krill, a small crustacean which “the ocean becomes silent”: whales represents the base of the supply of the blue whales. Without the Krill, these large marine mammals can no longer eat properly and have therefore stopped singing. The Professor of Animal Biology at the Uliège Eric Parmentier explains that it is a completely change “normal”. “Take sounds in water. to find a sexual partner or communicate with your group, requires energy”he explains to the RTBF. “When a whale is hungry, she does not spend this energy to sing.”

Why don’t the bump whales stop singing too?

This silence which settles would only concern (for the moment) only the blue whales. Indeed, according to the scientists of the study, this does not concern bumpy whales. For what ? Because “The humpback whale has an advantage compared to the blue whale”continues the specialist at the University of Liège.. “It is that it can redirect its diet.”

No longer finding Krill to eat, the hunter whales would then have fed “Small fish like anchovies”. “Which allowed him to have what he needed as food. therefore not only continue to sing, but even to sing more than it was doing other years.”

Despite everything. scientists are concerned about the long -term damage that “The Blob” could cause or other anomalies coming from global warming. “These sea heat waves have consequences on the entire ecosystem”said the co-author of the study Kelly Benoit-Bird, marine biologist. “Science shows that climate change has an impact on the oceans. It is essential for our future to listen and learn from these places. Today more than ever, it is important to listen”she concludes.