Scientists have discovered a blade new to science call that humpback hulk make . This antecedently unheard and unrecorded “ impetuous sound ” has been dubbed the “ gunfire ” by the inquiry squad .
report in the journalJASA Express Letters , the new call was show in November 2019 , during the summer in the South Atlantic Ocean in a part called the Vema Seamount . Over 11 twenty-four hour period , the moor hydrophones ( a microphone designed to go underwater ) recorded over 600 calls that were notwhale songs . Most of those call were so - called “ whups ” , which are low and frequency modulated . But occasionally they break up up these previously unknown “ gunshots . ” Both type of calls were mostly recorded at night and in finicky over a period of three days .
“ We still do n’t in full understand what the ‘ gunshot call ’ means , and it is fantastic to record it in humpback whale whale for the first time , it really present how muchwe still have to learnabout these incredible fauna , " Dr Kirsten Thompson , of the University of Exeter and Greenpeace International Research Laboratories , one of the scientists who extend the labor , pronounce in astatement .
Researchers have linked the “ whup ” as a way for mother - calf twain to persist in closemouthed contact . The audio helps them locate one another . The “ whup ” is also see when humpback whales give .
" Our sketch substantiate that the whales passing Vema during their longsighted journeying across the oceans are feed , " Dr Thompson added . " seamount can provide fertile habitat for all sorts of migratory species and we desperately need widespread protection of the global oceans to ensure these home ground can persevere . ”
enquiry such as this show that the in high spirits sea ( Vema is 1,000 kilometers from South Africa ) are fat in life and are deserving protecting . When this location was discovered in 1959 it became quickly overfished . The area is now partially closed to fishing but there is no internationally binding treaties that protect these areas of the sea .
“ Fifty year ago , governments come together to turn around the fate of hunchback whale and seeing many populations flourish collapse us a glimpse of their lives in the high seas . Only 3 % of the global oceans are decently protected and that ’s nowhere virtually unspoiled enough to safeguard habitats that whales rely on , ” Dr Thompson said .
The research was part of a scientific pleasure trip conducted by Greenpeace International under the leading of the Universities of Stellenbosch ( South Africa ) and Exeter ( UK ) . In the 1960s the global universe of humpback whales was around 5,000 but it has now recover to more than 135,000 individuals .
