Unknown Population of Blue Whales Discovered in Waters of Southern Chile

Large and Loud

They hope to travel to the Museum of Natural History in New York this summer to conduct genetic tests on the samples to see how the Corcovado whales are related to others in the oceans.

The Blue Whale Center, the World Wildlife Fund and others are lobbying the government of Chile to declare the entire Gulf of Corcovado a Marine Protected Area.

(ABC)
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Blue whales are not just the largest animals on the planet, they are also the loudest. Researcher Susannah Buchan has come all the way from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland to study the sounds these whales make. Like all the science here it takes extraordinary patience, but what she is recoding and hearing is itself extraordinary.

"They vocalize," Buchan explains. "They do talk to each other. Why exactly, we're not entirely sure."

She's also not entirely sure that the sounds she's recorded really are from the blue whale, because they are unlike anything anyone has heard before. Buchan describes it as "sort of like a whistle, like a high whistle."

Buchan played some of the sounds for us. At first we heard a very low repetitive sound usually associated with whale, like a jackhammer. Then an extraordinary high sound.

"We're very cautious about saying that this is a blue whale vocalization. This is what I have been recording near the whales. But I really can't say if this is blue whale vocalization just because the sound is so high."

If the sounds can be confirmed they may help match this population with others — like an acoustic DNA.

"It is really exciting," says Buchan. "It's fascinating because so little is known about this animal. It astounds me how little is known, how little we know about this area about these animals here but also blue whales all over the world. "

If the species is to survive and rebuild its stocks, the Gulf of Corcovado could be critical. But this pristine habitat here that survived almost unscathed through the 20th century is being invaded by industry, in particular salmon farms. Salmon are not native to the Southern Hemisphere, but about 25 years ago Norwegians discovered the cold waters of the South Pacific are ideal for farming salmon from the North Atlantic. Now Chile is about to overtake Norway as the biggest producer of salmon in the world — providing 60 percent of the salmon Americans eat. But at huge environmental costs: contaminating the waters with feed and harmful chemicals and spreading disease.

Keeping People, and Whales, Happy

It is not just the whales who are threatened by the salmon invasion. There is concern that the entire fragile eco-system is being destroyed. Which is why the Blue Whale Center, the World Wildlife Fund and others are lobbying the government of Chile to declare the Gulf of Corcovado — all 10 million acres of it — a Marine Protected Area. CLICK HERE to view a map of the proposed Marine Protected Area. That would allow traditional fishermen and salmon farming to continue, but would restrict growth and strictly monitoring environmental impact.