The Whale Wiretap
Oceanographer's Underwater microphones Eavesdrop on the Secret Lives of Whales
You can listen 24 hours a day, whether it’s light outside or dark. Whether there’s a storm raging or not. Kate Stafford
Allie Ferguson
April 9th, 2016
http://www.kplu.org/
Kate Stafford audio interview
Deep down on the sea floor off the coast of Alaska, about a dozen underwater microphones sit, anchored down by big heavy wheels from old trains. They sit and listen to the world of sounds around them.
“I mean, you can hear earthquakes and volcanoes," says Kate Stafford, oceanographer at the Applied Physics Lab at the University of Washington. " You can hear ships. You can hear winds and waves. And you can hear fish and seals and whales and anything produces sound underwater. You can listen 24 hours a day, whether it’s light outside or dark. Whether there’s a storm raging or not."
Stafford listens back to these recordings with the help of high-tech software to learn more about some especially loud underwater creatures: whales. Sound Effect's Gabriel Spitzer talked with her about what she's learned and what it's like to eavesdrop on the ocean.
You can listen 24 hours a day, whether it’s light outside or dark. Whether there’s a storm raging or not. Kate Stafford
