Sea Mammal Bioacoustics: A Brief History
| Scientists studying animal sounds on land have been able to utilize recording and microphone technologies to better capture the animals they are studying. Shotgun microphones, omnidirectional microphones, and digital recording have all helped scientists get higher-quality recordings in the field. However, scientists who want to record underwater have a much more difficult task. Dropping an underwater microphone, or hydrophone, into a section of the ocean is like putting one microphone in the middle of an auditorium--it's sometimes possible to hear what people are saying, but you have no idea how many people there are and which person is saying which thing. Imagine not knowing whether it was Rhett or Scarlett who said, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." Whales and other sea mammals are highly mobile and can dive to great depths, making it especially difficult to accurately track and record these creatures. New technologies have allowed us to better record sea mammal sounds, but the desire to understand how sea mammals communicate with each other has a history that goes back thousands of years. |
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