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Recording project seeks to help marine wildlife in Cordell Bank sanctuary avoid harmful noise

Mary Callahan, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

To listen to recordings of whale songs, click here and here.

Motoring across the steel-gray surface of the Pacific Ocean on a scientific vessel loaded with high-tech equipment — the vast horizon stretching ahead and seabirds soaring above — it is still nearly impossible to picture the diverse and abundant life that hides beneath the waves.
But occasionally, you get a glimpse.
A humpback whale breaches off the bow. Three sea lions mingle in a group before diving in unison. A pod of 100 or more dolphins puts on an acrobatic show, its members leaping above the surface two or three at a time.

What sounds do such marine mammals hear, and how loud is it in their underwater world?

Those are the questions driving scientist Danielle Lipski and her colleagues, who were on a daylong voyage Thursday out of Bodega Bay on a 67-foot ship — Research Vessel Fulmar — to deploy what amounts to a large listening device meant to record the ocean’s sounds.

Marine zoologists are increasingly worried that an ever-louder ocean — traversed by fishing vessels, shipping traffic and military craft — might interfere with the songs and vocalizations that whales and other marine mammals use to communicate about food sources, migratory routes, reproductive availability and other critical functions.

Read more at: Recording project seeks to help marine wildlife in | The Press Democrat