Marine Mammals and Sonar - Early Confusion Between Fin Whales and Military Sonar

Early Confusion Between Fin Whales and Military Sonar

Before extensive research on whale vocalizations was completed, the low-frequency pulses emitted by some species of whales were often not correctly attributed to them. Dr Payne wrote: "Before it was shown that fin whales were the cause, no one could take seriously the idea that such regular, loud, low, and relatively pure frequency tones were coming from within the ocean, let alone from whales." This unknown sound was popularly known by navy acousticians as the Jezebel Monster. (Jezebel was narrow-band passive long-range sonar.) Some researchers believed that these sounds could be attributed to geophysical vibrations or an unknown Russian military program, and it wasn't until biologists William Schevill and William A. Watkins proved that whales possessed the biological capacity to emit sounds that the unknown sounds were correctly attributed.

Read more about this topic:  Marine Mammals And Sonar

Famous quotes containing the words early, confusion, fin, whales and/or military:

    We have good reason to believe that memories of early childhood do not persist in consciousness because of the absence or fragmentary character of language covering this period. Words serve as fixatives for mental images. . . . Even at the end of the second year of life when word tags exist for a number of objects in the child’s life, these words are discrete and do not yet bind together the parts of an experience or organize them in a way that can produce a coherent memory.
    Selma H. Fraiberg (20th century)

    My grandmother stood among her kettles and ladles.
    Smiling, in faulty grammar,
    She praised my fortune and urged my lofty career.
    So to please her I studied—but I will remember always
    How she poured confusion out, how she cooled and labeled
    All the wild sauces of the brimming year.
    Mary Oliver (b. 1935)

    Since the fin has come a little early this siecle and anomie is all the rage, wry, dry tenderness is a suspect commodity.
    Angela Carter (1940–1992)

    Though once there were more whales cast up here, I think that it was never more wild than now.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    [I]t is a civil Cowardice to be backward in asserting what you ought to expect, as it is a military Fear to be slow in attacking when it is your Duty.
    Richard Steele (1672–1729)