The Canary of the Sea

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 July 2020

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Chirp. Whistle. Creak. Beluga whales, the canaries of the sea, have a lot to say. But noise from ships can drown out their calls, putting calves in danger. What happens when humans press pause during the coronavirus pandemic—and finally give ocean life some peace and quiet? For more on this episode, visit nationalgeographic.com/podcasts/overheard. Want more? Ever wonder why ocean animals eat plastic? The answer is surprisingly complicated. Whales around the world are still being hunted for their meat. But in Iceland that might be ending. Also explore: Take in the breathtaking sight of hundreds of beluga whales gathering in the Arctic. Check out the very first episode of Overheard for another story on how whales communicate. And for paid subscribers: The graphics team at Nat Geo has mapped out the effects of shipping on Arctic sea ice. Read Craig Welch’s reporting on the changing Arctic, including how the thawing of permafrost affects us all. See photos of whales taken by a Nat Geo explorer who’s spent 10,000 hours underwater. If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	It was a very, very foggy evening.
0:04.6	I could see nothing.
0:06.0	I would extend my hand in front of me and I couldn't see my fingers.
0:10.4	Marine biologist Valeria Vagara was studying Buluga whales in the Arctic.
0:14.9	My tent was right by the water and the bay was filled with over 500 bilugas.
0:21.1	And there wasn't a single moment of silence.
0:24.5	These whales were constantly communicating with one another.
0:28.6	Buluga whales chirp and whistle and creak.
0:30.8	They used these sounds to talk with each other.
0:33.4	And I just, at that moment, I had this just intuitive understanding of what it must be
0:39.2	like for an animal that just like I was at that moment, not seeing because of the fog,
0:45.1	an animal that navigates in dark situations very often and that relies on these constant
0:51.6	sounds to stay in touch with its companions.
0:56.9	The sense of sound is just absolutely key to a whale.
1:01.4	It is everything, really.
1:04.1	It's everything and yet whales are struggling to hear each other and not just Bulugas,
1:09.5	but all types of whales all over the world.
1:13.3	Because as economies around the world have become more interconnected, more ships are crossing
1:17.2	the oceans.
1:18.4	And that means more underwater noise.
1:21.2	Whereas Valeria calls it acoustic fog.
1:23.8	It's a pure, a visual species, so we need to think about these things in visual terms.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from National Geographic, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of National Geographic and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.