Multimedia Collection
The Science of Whales
VHS
56 minutes
1998
QL737 .C4 S25 1998
From Cornell University to Alaska, and from Santa Cruz to Hawaii, researchers are making important new discoveries about whales. One of the most promising avenues of research has to do with whales' ability to vocalize. Ever since the US Navy declassified top secret anti-submarine sonar technology and made it available to scientists, progress in whale sound research has been dramatic.
We now know, for instance, that some whales routinely "talk" to each other over distances of 1,000 miles and more. The powerful sounds of blue whales can be detected at distances of up to 12,000 miles underwater! Vocalizations can provide information about migration routes. Whales can also use the low-frequency sounds they emit in the same way that submarines use sonar: to guide themselves around obstacles in the deep, and to communicate the location of prey. And, without doubt, whales use their "songs" for social communication. Now scientists are studying whether or not human made noises affect the survival of whales.
The Science of Whales includes unforgettable whale footage and extraordinary animation. It shows that whales, like many of the other creatures that share this planet, have a much more complex social life than we knew.
Distributed by Bullfrog Films (www.bullfrogfilms.com)
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