Non-Invasive Oceanic Crust Imaging Inspired by Fin Whales

Innovation: Academia

Oregon State University

2021

Image: Fernando Gutierrez / Unsplash / CC BY SA - Creative Commons Attribution + ShareAlike

Send Sound Signals

Many living systems send auditory signals to communicate with others, including to attract, announce, or warn. These sounds must be audible to the intended recipient in a variety of conditions, such as in wind, water, and solids. As a result, each living system has specific sounds best adapted to its environment. For example, some birds live in loud habitats, like those alongside noisy streams or in windy areas. These birds use sound frequencies that can be heard by other birds over competing environmental noises.

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Sense Sound and Other Vibrations From the Environment

For living systems, sensing sound and other vibrations is important for communicating and detecting conditions within their environment. Living systems must locate a signal’s source so that they can move toward it (such as when it is food or a potential mate) or away from it (such as when it is a predator). To prompt an appropriate response, living systems must sense these signals, recognize their amplitude or volume (which is sometimes very low), and determine their direction. Living systems must be attuned to signals relevant to them and able to distinguish these from irrelevant sounds to avoid expending unnecessary energy. For example, owls’ ears are asymmetrically placed. This enables them to detect sounds more accurately, which helps them locate small prey at night and avoid wasting energy chasing down irrelevant sounds.

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Seismic crustal imaging technique from Oregon State University uses fin whale songs to map subsurface layers.

Benefits

Increased seismic wave detection
Non-invasive

Applications

Oceanic mapping
Natural disaster mitigation

UN Sustainable Development Goals Addressed

Goal 14: Life Below Water
Goal 15: Life on Land

The Challenge

Mapping out the density of ocean crust is a vital part of exploring the seafloor, and also helps researchers to better understand and predict earthquakes. The traditional method of imaging the oceanic crust involves the use of air guns. However, these guns are expensive, can be harmful to marine life, and can be difficult to obtain permits to use.

Innovation Details

Fin whales produce loud sounds known as ‘songs’ to communicate with one another. These sounds bounce between the ocean surface and ocean bottom. Part of the energy from these calls travels through the ground as seismic waves, which move through the oceanic crust and are reflected and refracted by the ocean sediment. These waves can be recorded by a seismometer, which allows researches to estimate the map and structure of the crust. This information can be used to learn more about earthquakes and ocean sediment movement, since earthquakes are known to move and shake up the sediment. Although the data from fin whale calls is of lower resolution than using traditional methods and does not replace them, it does enable researchers to survey areas that are deeper and more difficult to reach.

Biological Model

Fin whales produce sounds known as ‘songs’ to communicate with one another. They are some of the loudest sounds in the ocean, sometimes reaching up to 189 decibels, similar to a large ship.

SEE related STRATEGY ON WHALE COMMUNICATION

Four killer whale swim at the ocean surface

Biological Strategy

Vocal Learning Makes Communication Style Adaptable

Killer whale

Killer whales use vocal learning to adopt vocalization patterns of neighboring species.

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