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Thar It Blows

A bowhead whale surfaces and blows in the Bering Sea. Because polar regions are seasonally ice-covered, it is impossible for scientists to visually track whales year-round. Instead, researchers install moorings that remain beneath the ice for months at a time and that are equipped with devices to record whale songs. MIT/WHOI Joint Program graduate student Carter Esch studies bowhead songs to learn where their still-unknown breeding grounds are—a first step in figuring out ways to protect these critical areas. Read about her research (and listen to whale songs) here.

(Photo by Carter Esch, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)