November 28, 2024 | Yahoo! News via UVic News
Ocean scientists have been studying the “Bio-Duck”, a mysterious sound in the waters around Antarctica. The sound, which was first recorded in 1960, was linked in 2014 to Antarctic minke whales — but similar sounds in other oceans have not been definitively connected to any specific animal.
At the University of Victoria, Dr. Ross Chapman. Emeritus Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences, and his team discovered that these sounds involve multiple “speakers” taking turns, suggesting a form of conversation. Chapman has studied these sounds since the 1980s, noting their consistent, biological nature. Despite identifying the source of some of these noises, the purpose of these whale calls remains a mystery, possibly involving communication about various activities.
Dr. Chapman, who was recently awarded the Walter Munk Medal from The Oceanography Society, has focused his research on ocean acoustics, underwater acoustics, and marine gas hydrates. He has significantly contributed to the field of ocean acoustics and has held leadership roles, including serving as the Director of the Centre for Earth and Ocean Sciences at UVic.
Dr. Chapman has some works available, such as his paper “Effects of different analysis techniques and recording duty cycles on passive acoustic monitoring of killer whales“. If you are interested in reading this or Chapman’s other work, you can find it and more on our institutional repository UVicSpace.
Photo by Hernan Segui
