Unknown Song Led Scientists to New Population of Blue Whales

Blue whales are the biggest animal that ever inhabited the Earth's oceans. And yet, they are still hard to find. But when researchers recorded an unknown whale song in the Indian Ocean in 2017, they believed that they had found something remarkable.

It was like a song that got stuck in one's head that does not go away unless something is done about it. The researchers heard the same song again this year, but to their surprise, it was not just a single blue whale but a whole new population. Scientists said that this is a discovery of a previously unknown blue whale population.

The bass rumble vocalization of a blue whale is one of the lowest frequency sounds made by any animal that can be heard by others that are over 500 miles away. Also, the blue whale population has each unique song so it is easier for researchers and scientists to identify one population from another.

Unknown Whale Song Discovered in 2017

The recent study was published last week in the journal Endangered Species Research which details the analysis of the underwater recordings from the Arabian Sea up to the coast of Oman and the far south of Madagascar.

According to a report by Gizmodo, the researchers came across an unknown whale song before that had been documented in 2017, which sparked efforts to discover the mystery singer.

They joined forces with another team of scientists they met a year later at a meeting of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission, who claimed to have heard the same unknown song in the Indian Ocean. The teams were convinced that the collected acoustic recordings off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea are also the same unknown whale song they have documented.

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New Population of Blue Whales

The group of scientists conducted a series of analyses on the unknown whale song and it, later on, became clear that indeed they were able to record the same song from the previously unknown population of blue whales that likely spends most of its time in the northwestern Indian Ocean.

"It was quite remarkable to find a whale song in your data that was completely unique, never before reported, and recognize it as a blue whale," said African Aquatic Conservation Fund's Cetacean Program director and study co-author Salvatore Cerchio.

According to the scientists, their discovery is a glimmer of hope especially when blue whales were considered as one of the endangered species under the Endangered Species Act that is on the brink of extinction. Their declining population is due to global threats, including commercial whaling, habitat loss due to climate change, and getting struck or get tangled in fishing nets.

Independent reported that the researchers said that much of the research done for the past two decades were focused on humpback whales in the Arabian Sea. But now, they have another whale population to look out for that are likely equally endangered species --- the new population of blue whales.