MANY of us have heard the idiom, “snitches get stitches”, but it appears scientists are recruiting a new kind of ocean nark. Marine biologists in California are recruiting elephant seals to eavesdrop on whales, believing they may already do so without our intervention. Scientists at the University of California Santa...
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MANY of us have heard the idiom, “snitches get stitches”, but it appears scientists are recruiting a new kind of ocean nark.
Marine biologists in California are recruiting elephant seals to eavesdrop on whales, believing they may already do so without our intervention.
Scientists at the University of California Santa Cruz will glue audio recording devices to the back of the seals, believing they may follow sperm whales in order to hunt for food.
They descend as much as 1.5km underwater when hunting for small fish, squid, and even sharks, and that brings them within earshot of whales and other marine mammals.
The seals themselves do not make much noise, which means they do not contaminate the data, and scientists can get an ear on the far more fascinating wheals.
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