The
captivating songs of whales have intrigued marine biologists for
years. Now scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at
UC San Diego have made progress
in deciphering the sounds produced by blue whales, the largest
mammals on Earth.
Erin Oleson, '99, Ph.D. '05, and her colleagues used a variety
of approaches, including tissue analysis and attaching data-logging
tags to the animals. They found that only males produced sounds
known as "AB" calls, which may play a role in reproduction,
while "D" calls were heard from both sexes, typically
during foraging. Oleson hopes such call and behavior information
will eventually be used for calculating species abundances, and
give an overall better understanding of whales and their habitats.
In a second study, John Hildebrand, '78, and his
colleagues used acoustic recordings of whales from around the world
to produce a new map that categorizes blue whale species types
into nine regions based on their "dialects."
"By listening, you can tell something about
the areas in which they are interacting to breed," says Hildebrand.
"That's
important to know for managing and conserving the animals." 
Contributors to Making Waves: Mario Aguilera, '89, Rex Graham, Raymond Hardie, Robert Monroe, Neda Oreizy, '08, Doug Ramsey
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