A fin whale in the North Pacific
Credit:
NOAA Fisheries / Paula Olson
LISTEN: Whale songs reveal map of Earth's crust
Feb 17, 2021
Itâs the song of the fin whale.
Geologists at Oregon State University were studying earthquakes off the Oregon coast with a network of underwater seismometers, instruments that can detect even slight vibrations in the earth.
After leaving the devices on the deep ocean floor for a year, they retrieved them, then noticed tens of thousands of fin whale calls showing up in their recordings.
The booming songs can travel hundreds of miles underwater, where fellow whales and even seismometers can detect them.