A Georgia monitoring buoy off the coast of Tybee Island listening for the calls of endangered right whales heard a few for the first time late last month. GPB's Peter Biello reports.
A buoy off the coast of Tybee Island, used to listen for the calls of endangered North Atlantic right whales, heard a few for the first time late last month.
The buoy had been listening for two years before it picked up a sound known as a "contact call," said Mark Baumgartner, senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, which monitors the buoy.
“We call it a contact call because we believe it's designed for animals to stay in contact with one another," Baumgartner said. "I call and then maybe you call and then I know you're there and you know that I'm there."
Knowing where the whales are is essential to protecting them. Boaters are notified when the buoy indicates whales may be nearby. If boaters then slow down, they could avoid boat strikes, which are a leading cause of death for the animals.
The buoy that heard this right whale is 30 miles off the coast of Tybee Island, outside the zone that requires mariners to slow down. That means if boaters are notified near this buoy, they must choose to voluntarily slow down.
Baumgartner said compliance rates in the voluntary zones is 50% or less.
And with fewer than 400 right whales left worldwide, Baumgartner said he hopes to see greater compliance with speed warnings so more whales can survive.
