Latest news with #PLOS
Yahoo
a day ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Blue whales have gone silent. Why that has scientists worried about Earth's biggest animals ... and the ocean
Blue whales — the largest animals on Earth — aren't singing as much anymore, and that's got scientists concerned. A study published in PLOS analyzing six years' worth of acoustic data collected from the ocean's floor found that blue whale vocalizations have been decreasing as the animal's food sources have disappeared. The monitor — a hydrophone sitting on the sea floor off the coast of California — collected sounds from the various creatures in the ocean, including multiple whale species. By coincidence, the recordings began during a marine heatwave that is unprecedented in modern times. According to the study, the heatwave reduced the amount of krill available for blue whales to consume. As the krill disappeared, so too did the blue whale songs. Over the course of the acoustic collection, blue whale songs deceased by approximately 40 percent. 'When you really break it down, it's like trying to sing while you're starving,' John Ryan, a biological oceanographer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute told National Geographic. 'They were spending all their time just trying to find food.' The marine heating event began in 2013, when a stubborn, dense pool of hot water — later dubbed "The Blob" — moved from the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska down the eastern North American coast. In some places the ocean temperatures were more than 4.5 Fahrenheit above average due to the heating. The Blob grew and covered a 500 mile wide and 300 feet deep region in the Pacific Ocean. By 2016, it covered approximately 2,000 miles of the Pacific Ocean. The increase in temperature allowed for toxic algae blooms that killed off krill — tiny, shrimp like creatures — and other marine life. 'When we have these really hot years and marine heatwaves, it's more than just temperature,' Kelly Benoit-Bird, a Monterey Bay Aquarium marine biologist and co-author of the paper told National Geographic. 'The whole system changes, and we don't get the krill. So the animals that rely only on krill are kind of out of luck.' The blue whales were among those animals who were out of luck. They feed on densely packed krill — their huge mouths take in thousands of gallons of water at once, sucking in enormous numbers of the tiny creatures — but without krill present, they went hungry. Ryan said the whales have stopped singing because they're "spending all their energy searching" for food. "There's just not enough time left over—and that tells us those years are incredibly stressful," he said. Climate change, driven by the human burning of fossil fuels, will only make the situation worse, the researchers warn. The world's oceans already absorb more than 90 percent of the excess heat from climate change. 'There are whole ecosystem consequences of these marine heat waves,' continues Benoit-Bird. 'If they can't find food, and they can traverse the entire West Coast of North America, that is a really large-scale consequence.'
ITV News
a day ago
- Science
- ITV News
Blue whales are losing their voices, but what is causing the silence?
Blue whales produce one of the loudest songs on Earth, registering up to 188 decibels, and their deep melodic tones can be heard from up to 600 miles away. However, scientists who analysed whale songs over six years found that the largest mammals on Earth were calling less and less, and it's believed climate change is to blame. The study, published in PLOS (Public Library of Science), found that marine heatwaves were affecting blue whales' primary food source, krill. When krill populations fell, blue whale vocalisations became less and less prevalent. It's a stark reminder that climate change can affect all living creatures, big and small. The whales were recorded off the coast of California using a hydrophone - a microphone placed on the ocean floor, from July 2015 to June 2021. The researchers analysed the songs of three types of whale: blue, fin and humpback, which, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, make noise to communicate, find food and for navigation. Notably, humpback whales feed on a variety of species, from krill to small schools of fish like anchovies. Blue whales, however, almost solely feed on krill. According to the study, during the first three years, the abundance of forage fish like anchovies and sardines was persistently low, while krill stocks steadily increased. All three whale species' song detection increased during these three years. In the latter three years of the study, a marine heatwave that had been affecting the region began to impact the abundance of krill. Suddenly, an abundant food source became scarce, and blue whale song began to be heard less and less, decreasing by approximately 40%. In contrast, school fish stocks increased, particularly sardines. Scientists were able to suspect the lack of blue whale song was due to a lack of available food, because humpback song detection increased, as they ate varieties of fish in addition to krill. The marine heatwave had a name: "the Blob". It began in 2013 in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, before expanding and spreading across the Pacific Ocean. In some areas it touched, it raised the average sea temperature by up to 2.5C. By 2016, the area it covered spanned over 2,000 miles. The temperature change led to toxic algae blooms, which killed off krill in large swathes. 'We don't hear them singing,' John Ryan, a biological oceanographer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, told National Geographic. 'They're spending all their energy searching. There's just not enough time left over—and that tells us those years are incredibly stressful. 'When you really break it down, it's like trying to sing while you're starving... "They were spending all their time just trying to find food.' Earth recorded its hottest year ever in 2024, and global average temperatures exceeded 1.5C for the first time. The oceans store about 91% of the world's excess heat, driving detrimental changes in every component of the climate system, including sea level rise, ocean warming, ice loss, and permafrost thawing. UN scientists have said that the Earth is running out of time to prevent global warming from breaching 1.5C on average. They say that without drastic cuts to emissions, the world will be unable to prevent warming from surpassing the dangerous threshold, which will lead to a rise in extreme weather events, climate-related disasters and increase the risk of triggering irreversible changes. Among those terrifying outcomes, the eerie silence of the ocean's largest creature.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Blue whales have gone silent. Why that has scientists worried about Earth's biggest animals ... and the ocean
Blue whales — the largest animals on Earth — aren't singing as much anymore, and that's got scientists concerned. A study published in PLOS analyzing six years' worth of acoustic data collected from the ocean's floor found that blue whale vocalizations have been decreasing as the animal's food sources have disappeared. The monitor — a hydrophone sitting on the sea floor off the coast of California — collected sounds from the various creatures in the ocean, including multiple whale species. By coincidence, the recordings began during a marine heatwave that is unprecedented in modern times. According to the study, the heatwave reduced the amount of krill available for blue whales to consume. As the krill disappeared, so too did the blue whale songs. Over the course of the acoustic collection, blue whale songs deceased by approximately 40 percent. 'When you really break it down, it's like trying to sing while you're starving,' John Ryan, a biological oceanographer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute told National Geographic. 'They were spending all their time just trying to find food.' The marine heating event began in 2013, when a stubborn, dense pool of hot water — later dubbed "The Blob" — moved from the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska down the eastern North American coast. In some places the ocean temperatures were more than 4.5 Fahrenheit above average due to the heating. The Blob grew and covered a 500 mile wide and 300 feet deep region in the Pacific Ocean. By 2016, it covered approximately 2,000 miles of the Pacific Ocean. The increase in temperature allowed for toxic algae blooms that killed off krill — tiny, shrimp like creatures — and other marine life. 'When we have these really hot years and marine heatwaves, it's more than just temperature,' Kelly Benoit-Bird, a Monterey Bay Aquarium marine biologist and co-author of the paper told National Geographic. 'The whole system changes, and we don't get the krill. So the animals that rely only on krill are kind of out of luck.' The blue whales were among those animals who were out of luck. They feed on densely packed krill — their huge mouths take in thousands of gallons of water at once, sucking in enormous numbers of the tiny creatures — but without krill present, they went hungry. Ryan said the whales have stopped singing because they're "spending all their energy searching" for food. "There's just not enough time left over—and that tells us those years are incredibly stressful," he said. Climate change, driven by the human burning of fossil fuels, will only make the situation worse, the researchers warn. The world's oceans already absorb more than 90 percent of the excess heat from climate change. 'There are whole ecosystem consequences of these marine heat waves,' continues Benoit-Bird. 'If they can't find food, and they can traverse the entire West Coast of North America, that is a really large-scale consequence.' Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
2 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Blue whales have gone silent. Why that has scientists worried about Earth's biggest animals ... and the ocean
Blue whales — the largest animals on Earth — aren't singing as much anymore, and that's got scientists concerned. A study published in PLOS analyzing six years' worth of acoustic data collected from the ocean's floor found that blue whale vocalizations have been decreasing as the animal's food sources have disappeared. The monitor — a hydrophone sitting on the sea floor off the coast of California — collected sounds from the various creatures in the ocean, including multiple whale species. By coincidence, the recordings began during a marine heatwave that is unprecedented in modern times. According to the study, the heatwave reduced the amount of krill available for blue whales to consume. As the krill disappeared, so too did the blue whale songs. Over the course of the acoustic collection, blue whale songs deceased by approximately 40 percent. 'When you really break it down, it's like trying to sing while you're starving,' John Ryan, a biological oceanographer at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute told National Geographic. 'They were spending all their time just trying to find food.' The marine heating event began in 2013, when a stubborn, dense pool of hot water — later dubbed "The Blob" — moved from the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska down the eastern North American coast. In some places the ocean temperatures were more than 4.5 Fahrenheit above average due to the heating. The Blob grew and covered a 500 mile wide and 300 feet deep region in the Pacific Ocean. By 2016, it covered approximately 2,000 miles of the Pacific Ocean. The increase in temperature allowed for toxic algae blooms that killed off krill — tiny, shrimp like creatures — and other marine life. 'When we have these really hot years and marine heatwaves, it's more than just temperature,' Kelly Benoit-Bird, a Monterey Bay Aquarium marine biologist and co-author of the paper told National Geographic. 'The whole system changes, and we don't get the krill. So the animals that rely only on krill are kind of out of luck.' The blue whales were among those animals who were out of luck. They feed on densely packed krill — their huge mouths take in thousands of gallons of water at once, sucking in enormous numbers of the tiny creatures — but without krill present, they went hungry. Ryan said the whales have stopped singing because they're "spending all their energy searching" for food. "There's just not enough time left over—and that tells us those years are incredibly stressful," he said. Climate change, driven by the human burning of fossil fuels, will only make the situation worse, the researchers warn. The world's oceans already absorb more than 90 percent of the excess heat from climate change. 'There are whole ecosystem consequences of these marine heat waves,' continues Benoit-Bird. 'If they can't find food, and they can traverse the entire West Coast of North America, that is a really large-scale consequence.'
The National
04-06-2025
- Science
- The National
Dead Sea Scrolls a century older than previously thought
Fragments from a collection of ancient Jewish manuscripts found on the northern shores of the Dead Sea are 100 years older than previously thought, a study found. The Dead Sea Scrolls, as they are best known, were discovered in the mid 20th century at the Qumran caves in the occupied West Bank. They include the oldest surviving manuscripts of entire books from the Bible, and for decades were generally dated from the 3rd to 2nd century BCE. But new AI technologies have allowed researchers to date some of the scrolls back to the 4th century BCE. Two of the biblical scrolls – the Book of Daniel and Ecclesiasts - are now believed to have come from the time of their presumed authors. The Book of Daniel is long believed to have been completed in the 160s BCE and Enoch's findings placed the scroll back in the same time period. The same was true for a scroll fragment of the Ecclesiastes, which is commonly assumed to have been written by an anonymous author in the 3rd century BCE. Researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands developed a date-prediction programme called Enoch, which they say provides more accurate date estimates for individual manuscripts. Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS on Wednesday. Enoch uses AI to combine the traditional study of old handwriting with radiocarbon dating, which calculates the age of a material by measuring the amount of a specific carbon molecule in the sample. Traditionally, researchers studying ancient handwriting have been unable to more accurately date texts between 4th and 2nd century BCE, but researchers say this 'gap' has now been closed through Enoch's additional use of carbon dating. They say that the programme can predict radio carbon-based dates and handwriting style with an uncertainty of about 30 years. The work was a collaboration between historians of the ancient world and computer scientists, led by Mladen Popovic, professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism and director of the Qumran Institute and Dr Maruf Dhali, assistant professor in Artificial Intelligence. The first results showed that many of the texts were much older than previously thought. 'This also changes how researchers should interpret the development of two ancient Jewish script styles which are called 'Hasmonaean' and 'Herodian',' the researchers said. The two scripts are now believed to have existed at the same time since the second century BCE, and manuscripts in the Hasmonian script could be older than their current estimate of 150-50 BCE. 'This new chronology of the scrolls significantly impacts our understanding of political and intellectual developments in the eastern Mediterranean during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods -late fourth century BCE until second century CE,' the authors said. 'It allows for new insights to be developed about literacy in ancient Judaea in relation to historical, political, and cultural developments such as urbanization, the rise of the Hasmonaean dynasty, and the rise and development of religious groups such as those behind the Dead Sea Scrolls and the early Christians,' they said.
