Eavesdropping on dolphin chat

A new project has been set up that will listen in on whale and dolphin activity in order to protect them and their homes.

Scientists from Northern Ireland’s Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) plan to eavesdrop on marine mammals around the Irish and Scottish coasts using a network of sophisticated underwater monitoring devices.

These devices will record whale and dolphin chatter, identify numbers and species and also to investigate the impact of noise pollution on species from commercial fishing and other industries, like oil and gas, that use the marine environment.

Noise pollution threatens whale and dolphin populations, interrupting their normal behaviour, driving them away from areas important to their survival, and at worst injuring or sometimes even causing the deaths of some whales and dolphins.