Hello Friends,
I want to apologise for neglecting my blog and, inadvertently, all of you, over the last few months. I am on the home straight with my thesis and will be submitting in the next few weeks. I am working really hard to produce great quality science to increase our knowledge about the wonderful blue whales in Sri Lankan waters. Once the results are published, you will be the first to know, so please don't lose heart - I promise you the wait will be totally worth it. Once I have that out of the way I will get back up to speed with my backlogged stories and marine thoughts.
I also have to apologise for the fact that blogger has suddenly decided to kill all the images I had on my blog. It now looks a bit sad and neglected to say the least. The good news is that I am shifting my blog to a new platform very very soon......and I promise the pictures will be up there sooner rather than later.
I want to leave you with a very short note on some recent science about blue whales and military sonar. No, it is not good news. Researchers in California have just published the results of the first direct measurements of any kind of baleen whale to mid-frequency sonar signals. They found that while not all the whales responded to the sounds, and definitely not all of them responded in the same way, whales were seen to respond in some conditions by modifying their behaviour and temporarily avoiding areas where sounds were produced. The real problem is that this behavioural modification could potentially cause them to alter diving behaviours and even avoid important feeding areas. No, not good news at all.....
CITATION: "Blue whales respond to simulated mid-frequency military sonar," Jeremy Goldbogen, Brandon Southall, et al. Proceedings of the Royal Academy B, July 3, 2013. DOI -10.1098/rspb.2013.0657
More soon and thank you for your patience!
Asha
