Cornell Lab Records Blue Whales Off New York Coast

Cornell University’s Bioacoustic Research Program announced this week that it had recorded for the first time the voices of blue whales off the coast of New York.  Acoustic experts at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Bioacoustics Research Program (BRP) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) confirmed that the voice of a singing blue whale was tracked about 70 miles off of Long Island and New York City on Jan. 10-11, 2009, as the whale swam slowly from east to west. At the same time, a second blue whale was heard singing offshore in the far distance.  

“These endangered blue whales are the largest animals ever to have lived on this planet, and their voices can travel across an ocean. It’s just amazing to hear one singing out there on New York’s ocean stage only tens of miles from Carnegie Hall and Broadway!” said Christopher Clark, director of Cornell’s BRP. “This opens a whole new universe of opportunities for all of us to learn more about and appreciate these species and the vitality of New York’s marine environment.”

Stop by the Cornell lab’s website here to see a short video of Christopher Clark discussing the recording and Cornell’s plans to follow up this fall with more recording sensors off the Long Island shore.

Copyright © 2009 by Marine Science Today, a publication of OceanLines LLC