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Seismic Whale Detector

February 24, 2013

This “sunburst” pattern shows the calls of one or more fin whales, recorded over a 5-hour period by an underwater microphone that had been deployed to detect landslides, volcanoes, and earthquakes in the ocean. WHOI seismologists Dan Lizarralde and John Collins are teaming up with WHOI cetacean biologist Laela Sayigh to analyze potential whale sounds in recordings from seismic studies. Their work could allow scientists to cast a new light on collections of data from seismic surveys done all over the world and stored in the Data Management Center of the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology. (Image courtesy of Dan Lizarralde, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)