A Cuviers’ beaked whale. According to Dr. Hildebrand, the white scars are from cookiecutter sharks (Isistius brasiliensis) who take bites out of these animals. (Photo courtesy of Ocean Treasures Memorial Library)

Smithsonian Highlights Research about Acoustic Monitoring of Beaked Whales

The Smithsonian recently published an article about how researchers are using sound or echolocation to learn more about the elusive beaked whale. Some of these whales live and forage in the vicinity where the Deepwater Horizon incident happened, and researchers are monitoring their numbers and location to learn how the oil spill may have affected their populations.