VIDEO & AUDIO REPORTS

Watch short video and listen to educational audio reports about whales from the researchers and crew of the Research Vessel Odyssey.

August 9, 2001 'How Do Sperm Whales Produce Sound?' "Sperm whales are highly acoustic animals that emit powerful, regular clicks almost continuously while they are underwater. In large males, up to one third of the entire body length is made up of the huge nose, the world's largest biological sound generator." Read more >> View FLASH 5 animation >> Listen to the Odyssey log: Real Audio -  >28k   >128k Audio: Visiting Scientist, Peter Teglberg Madsen & Genevieve Johnson

June 8, 2001 The Dive Cycle of the Sperm Whale While the whale is at the surface, it recovers for about 10 to 15 minutes after a dive, blowing heavily every 10 to 15 seconds. When the oxygen stores in the blood and muscle tissue are replenished, there is sufficient oxygen to allow the whale to hold its breath for the next 40 to 50 minutes. Sperm whales repeat this cycle with varying intervals, throughout the day and night. Read more >> REAL AUDIO    28k    128k Audio: Visiting Scientist, Peter Teglberg Madsen & Genevieve Johnson

June 6, 2001 The Diving Physiology of the Sperm Whale In order to exploit the food sources of deeper waters, whales have to stay submerged at great depth for extended periods of time. Sperm whales are masters of this discipline as they may dive to depths of 2000 meters, holding their breath for an extraordinary, 1.5 hours. So how do they accomplish this? Read more >> REAL AUDIO    28k    128k Audio: Visiting Scientist, Peter Teglberg Madsen & Genevieve Johnson

March 18, 2001 The Acoustic Realm of the Sperm Whale - Part II One would be hard pressed to encounter a more impressive animal than the adult male sperm whale, by any measure it is a most magnificent animal. The largest predator in the sea, he may reach lengths of over 60 ft (18m), he has nothing to fear and is the undisputed king of his ocean home. Read more >> REAL AUDIO    28k    128k Audio: Visiting Scientist, Benjamin Kahn & Chris Johnson

March 15, 2001 The Acoustic Realm of the Sperm Whale - Part I We have been surveying a relatively unknown area in terms of whale and dolphin species, and have been thrilled to encounter several groups of sperm whales. Some have been in tight clusters of eight to ten animals, others spread out in small groups of three and four, as well as several individuals in loose associations. It has been particularly interesting to collect acoustic recordings, or vocalizations from these diverse groups, differing in compositions of abundance, sex and age. Read more >> REAL AUDIO    28k    128k Audio: Visiting Scientist, Benjamin Kahn & Chris Johnson

December 22, 2000 How We Find and Track Sperm Whales To find and track sperm whales we use a hydrophone array (two underwater microphones housed in a 30 foot, oil-filled tube and towed behind the ship from a 100 meter-long cable). Alone, this acoustic array gives us very good stereo sound from the sea surrounding the boat. Many sounds, like the clicks of sperm whales can be heard through headphones from distances of 5 or even 10 miles away (distances we have determined through our experience of the past few months). Read more >> REAL VIDEO    56k    200k Video: Chris Johnson & Roger Payne

November 8, 2000 Beaked Whales Today we experienced a unique encounter with what we believe were four Blainville's beaked whales. What made this encounter so incredible is the fact that beaked whales are mysterious, elusive animals that are notoriously skittish and shy of boats. Usually the best that one hopes for is a passing glance at a beaked whale. Read more >> REAL VIDEO Audio: Genevieve Johnson

May 6, 2000 The Blowholes of Sperm Whales The position of the blowhole of a sperm whale is not centered as in other toothed whales. The nostril or blowhole of the sperm whale is positioned on the left hand side of the head as shown above. There is in fact a right nostril which is internal. REAL VIDEO: 28k - 56k - T1/Cable Video: Chris Johnson

May 14, 2000 Pilot Whales in the Galapagos REAL VIDEO: 28K - 56K - T1/Cable Video: Chris Johnson