How do scientists study marine mammals use of sound in social interactions?
Sounds carry a long distance underwater, but we humans, at least, have a hard time pinpointing where the sounds originate. Scientists recording the sounds of captive dolphins often found it impossible to decipher which animals was making which sounds, since marine mammals do not move their mouths when they vocalize. Peter Tyack, a whale researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, has developed the “datalogger,” a computerized instrument designed to record sounds made by captive marine mammals, such as beluga whales and dolphins. Each datalogger contains an underwater microphone linked to a small computer to store information. A datalogger is attached to a subject’s back by two suction cups. As the animals vocalize, the datalogger on each animal picks up the loudest sound, revealing who is “talking.” Cheri Reechia, a graduate student at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, is using the data logger to study vocalizations and social behavior among groups of beluga whales
