Pandemic Offers Scientists a Chance to 'Hear' the Oceans
Eleven years ago, environmental scientist Jesse Ausubel dreamed aloud in a commencement speech: What if scientists could record the sounds of the ocean in the days before propeller-driven ships and boats spanned the globe?They would listen to chit-chat between blue whales hundreds of miles apart. They would record the familiar chirps and clicks among a pod of dolphins. And they would do so without the cacophony of humankind – and develop a better understanding of how that undersea racket has affected sea life.It was a flight of fancy…
Bid Launched for Worldwide Marine Census
Marine scientists from across Australia are meeting at laboratories this week as part of an ambitious $1 billion international attempt to record all life in the world's oceans, officials said on Wednesday. The International Census of Marine Life, being led by U.S. groups, could settle once and for all whether fabled animals such as Jules Verne's giant squid populate the uncharted ocean depths. Only around five percent of the world's oceans have been surveyed for marine life - mostly in coastal regions. The international census, expected to take 10 years, is being promoted by Jesse Ausubel of the U.S.-based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a private philanthropic organization that fosters scientific programs.