Sounds Of The Seas

The Whale Brain, extremely sound-sensitive


By comparing human and dolphin brains, the American researcher Lori Marino confirms how extremely sensitive and reactive whales are to noise. This is common knowledge in Japan, she says, where the cruel technique of creating “noise-nets” for hunting whales and dolphins has been used for centuries. If their banging on metal poles distresses the animals enough to lead them into slaughter, what happens to the whales when they are struck by the military sonar sounds, as loud as jet engines?DEUTSCH