Seismologists studying earthquake mechanics on the sea-floor found a way to use whale calls to help them conduct seafloor imaging. The process normally uses air guns to send sound waves downward through the crust; the sound waves then bounce back to instruments on the seafloor, allowing researchers to better understand the structures they pass through. That process is expensive and can harm marine life, so having a complementary method "is a win-win," says seismologist Vaclav Kuna. While studying a fault off the Oregon coast, Kuna's seismi. instruments picked up fin whale calls. But because the audio microphones did not register the sound, Kuna realized the signals were in fact echoes of the whales' calls bouncing back from beneath the crust. Scientists say the pulsing pattern of fin whale calls is easier to analyze than continuous sound, making them well suited to seismic imaging applications.
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