Captain says warnings over Korean ferry ignored

Yahoo – AFP, Park Chan-Kyong

A relative of a victims of the Sewol ferry disaster weeps before yellow

ribbons at Jindo harbour, on April 27, 2014 (AFP Photo/Ed Jones)

Seoul (AFP) - A probe into South Korea's ferry disaster has heard that warnings over the ship's seaworthiness were ignored, prosecutors said Wednesday, as rescuers worked to recover more than 90 people still missing two weeks after it sank.

The confirmed death toll from the accident stood at 210, with 92 unaccounted for, the coastguard said, with divers pushing deeper into the submerged vessel's interior in their search for bodies.

The recovery operation has stalled in recent days because of strong currents and debris blocking access to some of the cabin decks.

A handout picture taken on April 29, 2014

 showing President Park Geun-Hye paying

her respects in front of a memorial for

victims of ferry disaster (AFP Photo)

Prosecutors investigating the disaster on Tuesday questioned the regular captain of the 6,825-tonne Sewol, who was on leave when it capsized April 16 with 476 people on board -- most of them high school students.

Senior Prosecutor Yang Jong-Jin said the captain, identified only as Shin, told investigators that he had warned the shipping company of serious stability problems with the Sewol.

The Chonghaejin Marine Co. purchased the then-18 year old ferry from Japan in 2012 and refurbished it, building extra passenger cabins on the third, fourth and fifth decks.

Shin said the renovations altered the balance of the ship and undermined its anti-rolling ability.

When he advised the company about the problems, his warnings were brushed aside, he told investigators.

The precise cause of the accident is still under investigation, but experts have suggested a sharp turn may have caused its cargo to shift, and the ferry to list irretrievably to one side before capsizing.

Kim Han-Sik, the CEO of Chonghaejin Marine, was summoned to the prosecutors' office Tuesday in the port city of Incheon, from where the ill-fated ferry departed bound for Jeju island.

Kim, 71, issued a tearful apology for the "horrible tragedy" the day after the accident, saying he and other company officials were responsible for a "grave sin" in letting it happen.

In Shin's absence, the Sewol was skippered by captain Lee Joon-Seok, who is now under arrest along with 14 crew members.

The coastguard released a video earlier this week showing Lee scrambling to safety as hundreds of his passengers remained trapped inside the ferry.

Public disgust at the behaviour of the crew has been matched by the anger of the victims' relatives with the official response to the disaster.

President Park Geun-Hye apologised on Tuesday for her government's failure to combat systemic and regulatory "evils" that may have contributed to the accident and for the "insufficient first response."

A screen grab taken on April 28, 2014 showing the "Sewol's" captain Lee

Joon-Seok (centre R) being rescued on April 16, 2014 (AFP Photo)

But many of the victims' families rejected her apology, which was made during a meeting with her cabinet ministers.

"An apology made before several cabinet members behind closed doors cannot be considered an apology," said Yoo Gyeong-Geun, the spokesman for a group of around 100 families who issued a statement demanding a thorough probe into the rescue operation.

The tragedy has proved a challenge for Park, who has built a reputation for strong leadership since taking office just over a year ago, but is sometimes criticised for being aloof and domineering.

On Tuesday, Park visited a memorial to the young victims of the disaster in Ansan city, where the high school that had 325 students on board the Sewol is located.

She was heckled during her visit by some family members who also turned away wreaths donated by the president and other senior officials.

Related Article:

Ferry disaster: South Korea's president apologises for official failings

Ferry disaster: South Korea's president apologises for official failings

Park Geun-Hye, whose PM resigned over sinking, says government should have fixed 'long-running evils' that caused it

theguardian.com - AFP, Seoul, Tuesday 29 April 2014

Park Geun-hye at a memorial altar in Ansan for victims of the ferry disaster.
Photograph: AP

South Korea's president has apologised for her government's failure to prevent a ferry disaster that left some 300 people dead or missing.

Two days after her prime minister resigned over the tragedy, Park Geun-Hye voiced profound regret at the systemic and regulatory failings that contributed to the capsize of the 6,825-tonne Sewol on 16 April.

"I feel so regretful for having been unable to correct such long-running evils and letting an accident like this take place," she said in a statement to her cabinet that was broadcast on national television.

Park's government has been widely criticised over perceived corruption and lax safety standards that may have led to the disaster, with claims that the ferry was overloaded and the passenger list inaccurate and incomplete.

Relatives of the more than 100 passengers still missing have blasted the response to the sinking, saying delays in launching the rescue cost lives.

"I don't know how to apologise for the failure to prevent this accident and for the insufficient first response," Park said.

"I am sorry to the people and heavy-hearted that many precious lives were lost."

Earlier on Tuesday the president had travelled to Ansan, south of Seoul, where she paid her respects to a memorial for the hundreds of schoolchildren who died in the disaster.

Of the 476 people on board the Sewol, 325 were students from the same high school in Ansan. Only 75 of the students were rescued.

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South Korea ferry disaster: transcript shows crew crippled by indecision
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North China's largest lake introduces fishing moratorium

Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-04-28

Hulun Lake. (File photo/Xinhua)

A five-year fishing moratorium will be introduced to help Hulun Lake, the largest freshwater lake in north China, to rehabilitate its dwindling aquatic resources.

Sources with the municipal government of Hulun Buir said on Sunday that the core nature reserve, nearly half of the 2,339 square km lake area, will stick to the moratorium till Dec. 2018, while the other part will be subjected to an annual fishing ban between May 1 and July 31 from this year to 2018.

Dubbed as the "kidney of the grassland," the huge body of water — the fourth largest freshwater lake in the country — on the Hulun Buir Grassland was included on the list of internationally important wetlands in 2001.

However, excessive exploitation and desertification has been attributed to the lake's shrinking and falling amount of fishing resources.

During the moratorium, the government will cap the annual fish haul at 1,000 tonnes, which was a quarter of last year's total harvest.

The central government has appropriated an annual subsidy of 15 million yuan (US$2.4 million) to help Hulun Buir to change its economic focus from fishing to other production and move people out of the lake area from 2014 to 2018.

Xu Qiuhui, a police officer in the lake area, said the public security bureau has stepped up patrols targeting illegal fishing activities.

Greenpeace sends new protest ship as first Russian Arctic oil arrives

Channel NewsAsia – AFP, 28 Apr 2014

Greenpeace on Monday sent a protest ship to meet a Russian tanker carrying the first oil drilled offshore in the environmentally fragile Arctic.

The Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior. (AFP/Romeo Gacad)

THE HAGUE: Greenpeace on Monday sent a protest ship to meet a Russian tanker carrying the first oil drilled offshore in the environmentally fragile Arctic.

The ship, Rainbow Warrior, is captained by Peter Willcox, who was among campaigners detained by Russian authorities last year after staging a high-profile protest against Arctic drilling.

The vessel set sail from Rotterdam on Monday afternoon, Greenpeace said, and will seek to escort to harbour the Russian tanker Mikhail Ulyanov, which is delivering oil purchased by French energy giant Total.

The oil was drilled at the Prirazlomnaya platform, an offshore rig owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom and the site of Greenpeace's protest last September.

The protest, which saw two campaigners attempt to scale the rig, prompted Russian authorities to seize Greenpeace's Dutch-flagged Arctic Sunrise boat and detain the 30 activists and journalists on board.

Greenpeace argues that the Gazprom rig is an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen that risks ruining the pristine Arctic ecology of the southern Barents Sea where the deposit is located.

The activists had faced lengthy prison terms before Moscow announced amnesties.

"We want to escort the ship into the harbour," at Rotterdam, Greenpeace activist Patric Salize told AFP by telephone from aboard the ship.

He declined to say what kind of protest action the group might have planned.

There are 23 people on board the vessel, which may meet the Russian tanker on Tuesday night, another campaigner Willem Wiskerke told AFP, also from aboard the Rainbow Warrior.

"We do not disclose in advance what we are going to do, but I can assure you we will send a clear message to the world that this oil is very dangerous," Wiskerke said.

Greenpeace has accused France's Total of hypocrisy for buying the Arctic oil, after its CEO Christophe de Margerie said in 2012 that his company would not drill in the fragile region.

A Total spokesman in Paris confirmed the controversial purchase but insisted the company would not itself be drilling in the Arctic.

"The environmental risks are too high," the spokesman said, asking not to be named.

Greenpeace oil campaigner Ben Ayliffe accused Total of "real hypocrisy".

"Its CEO has already pledged not to drill in the icy waters of the far north, and yet he is apparently happy to buy the stuff if Gazprom takes on the risk," Ayliffe said in a statement.

"Mr De Margerie cannot have his cake and eat it."

Greenpeace is suing Russia before the European Court of Human Rights for what it says was the illegal detention of its activists as it breached the right to freedom of expression.

Russian authorities are still holding the Arctic Sunrise icebreaker.

- AFP/ec

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South Korea arrests last members of sunken Sewol ferry crew

Deutsche Welle, 26 April 2014

All surviving crew members of a sunken South Korean ferry are in custody. On Saturday, bad weather prevented the recovery of any of the more than 100 bodies still missing.

Police arrested two helmsmen and two members of the steering team Saturday, the last of the surviving crew members from the 6,825-ton Sewol shipwreck to be taken into custody. Officials had already arrested the Sewol's captain, Lee Joon-seok, and 10 crew members on charges ranging from criminal negligence to abandoning passengers. Among the passengers were about 325 high school students, 250 of whom are now presumed dead.

The confirmed death toll from the tragedy has continued to grow and on Saturday stood at 187, with 115 people unaccounted for. Officials believe they will find many bodies trapped in the ferry that capsized for unknown reasons on April 16 on a routine voyage to southern Jindo island with 476 people on board. Those rescued number 174, including 22 of the Sewol's 29 crew members.

Many have criticized Lee for delaying the evacuation order until the ferry had begun to list so badly that it made escape almost impossible. Transcripts of radio messages from the ferry seem to show confusion over the ship's evacuation procedures.

The seven surviving crew members not arrested or detained held jobs unrelated to the marine operation of the vessel, such as chef or steward, a prosecutor told the Associated Press news agency. Since the accident, officials have also raided a host of businesses affiliated with the ferry operator, the Chonghaejin Marine Company, as part of an overall probe into corrupt management. The widening investigation has also seen travel bans put on eight current and former executives of the Korea Register of Shipping, the body responsible for issuing marine safety certificates.

It took divers working in difficult and dangerous conditions more than two days to get into the sunken ferry and almost two more days to retrieve the first bodies. On Saturday, a looming storm and high tides put a temporary halt to recovery operations.

mkg/mz (AFP, dpa, AP)

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Japan Kicks Off First Whale Hunt Since UN Court Ruling

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Apr 26, 2014

Whale meat for sale at the Tsukiji fish market in Japan in 2008. (Wikimedia Commons)

Ayukawa, Japan. A Japanese whaling fleet left port Saturday under tight security in the first hunt since the UN’s top court last month ordered Tokyo to stop killing whales in the Antarctic.

Four ships departed from the fishing town of Ayukawa in the northeast, marking this season’s start to a coastal whaling program not covered by the International Court of Justice’s landmark ruling — which found Japan’s Southern Ocean expedition was a commercial activity masquerading as research.

Some observers had predicted the Japanese government would use the cover of last month’s court ruling to abandon what many have long considered the facade of a scientific hunt.

But Tokyo’s decision to continue whaling was likely to set off a new battle with critics who had hoped the ruling would bring an end to a slaughter that the Japanese government has embraced as part of the island nation’s cultural heritage.

Some Japanese politicians have derided criticism from abroad as little more than cultural imperialism by the West, while locals in Ayukawa expressed fears the court’s decision could ultimately ruin their livelihoods.

Around 10:30 a.m. local time, whistles sounded as the flotilla accompanied by a trio of coastguard patrol boats set off following a ceremony attended by about 100 local dignitaries and crew.

There were, however, no protestors among the crowd — a far cry from the Antarctic hunt which saw sometimes violent clashes between Japanese whaling crews and activists trying to end the hunt.

The town on Japan’s northeast coast was ravaged by Japan’s 2011 tsunami and still bears the scars of the disaster. Local people say their small community’s existence rests heavily on the hunt.

“No matter what the court ruling was, all we can do is let everyone see that we’re still hanging in there,” said Koji Kato, a 22-year-old crew member. “People from outside are saying a lot of things, but we want them to understand our perspective as much as possible. For me, whaling is more attractive than any other job.”

Fears about the future

Yuki Inomata, works in a local whale meat processing factory, said he was “glad” that the annual hunt got under way despite questions about the future of the industry in Japan.

“I don’t know what will happen next but I hope we can continue whaling,” said Inomata.

Tokyo called off the 2014-15 season for its Antarctic hunt, and said it would redesign the controversial whaling mission in a bid to make it more scientific.

But vessels would still go to the icy waters to carry out “non-lethal research,” raising the possibility that harpoon ships would return the following year.

That would put Japan on a collision course with anti-whaling nations like Australia, which brought the case to the international court, arguing that Tokyo’s research was aimed at skirting a ban on commercial whaling.

Japan has hunted whales under a loophole in a 1986 global moratorium that allowed it to conduct lethal research on the mammals, but has openly admitted that their meat made its way onto menus.

Tokyo has always maintained that it intended to prove the whale population was large enough to sustain commercial hunting. The coastal whaling program in places like Ayukawa is considered part of “research” whaling, but was not targeted at the court battle in The Hague.

Like the United States, Japan extensively hunted whales in the 19th century, when they were a source of fuel and food.

But the country’s taste for whale meat has considerably diminished in recent decades as it has become richer and has been able to farm more of its protein.

On Tuesday, a new poll showed 60 percent of Japanese people support the country’s whaling program, but only 14 percent eat whale meat. Although not difficult to find in Japan, whale meat is not a regular part of most Japanese people’s diet.

However, powerful lobbying forces have ensured Tokyo continues to subsidize the hunt with taxpayers’ money.

Agence France-Presse

Some corals adjusting to rising ocean temperatures

ScienceDaily, Stanford University, April 24, 2014

Stanford graduate student Rachael Bay takes samples from an Acropora
 hyacinthus colony at the National Park of American Samoa. (Credit:
Megan Morikawa)

Research led by Stanford scientist Steve Palumbi reveals how some corals can quickly switch on or off certain genes in order to survive in warmer-than-average tidal waters.

To most people, 86-degree Fahrenheit water is pleasant for bathing and swimming. To most sea creatures, however, it's deadly. As climate change heats up ocean temperatures, the future of species such as coral, which provides sustenance and livelihoods to a billion people, is threatened.

Through an innovative experiment, Stanford researchers led by biology Professor Steve Palumbi have shown that some corals can -- on the fly -- adjust their internal functions to tolerate hot water 50 times faster than they would adapt through evolutionary change alone. The findings, published April 24 in Science, open a new realm of possibility for understanding and conserving corals.

"The temperature of coral reefs is variable, so it stands to reason that corals should have some capacity to respond to different heat levels," said Palumbi, director of Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station and a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. "Our study shows they can, and it may help them in the future as the ocean warms."

Coral reefs are crucial sources of fisheries, aquaculture and storm protection. Overfishing and pollution, along with heat and increased acidity brought on by climate change, have wiped out half of the world's reef-building corals during the past 20 years. Even atemporary rise in temperature of a few degrees can kill corals across miles of reef.

American Samoa presents a unique case study in how corals might survive a world reshaped by climate change. Water temperatures in some shallow reefs there can reach 95 degrees Fahrenheit, enough to kill most corals. To find out how native corals survive the heat, researchers in Palumbi's lab transplanted colonies from a warm pool to a nearby cool pool and vice versa.

The researchers found that, over time, cool-pool corals transplanted to the hot pool became more heat-tolerant. Although these corals were only about half as heat-tolerant as corals that had been living in the hot pool all along, they quickly achieved the same heat tolerance that could be expected from evolution over many generations. Corals, like people, have adaptive genes that can be turned on or off when external conditions change. The corals Palumbi's group studied adjusted themselves by switching on or off certain genes, depending on the local temperature.

These findings make clear that some corals can stave off the effects of ocean warming through a double-decker combination of adaptation based on genetic makeup and physiological adjustment to local conditions.

"These results tell us that both nature and nurture play a role in deciding how heat-tolerant a coral colony is," Palumbi said. "Nurture, the effect of environment, can change heat tolerance much more quickly -- within the lifetime of one coral rather than over many generations."

Palumbi cautioned that corals' heat-adaptive characteristics do not provide a magic bullet to combat climate change. They can't respond to indefinite temperature increases and they could be compromised by stressors such as acidification and pollution.

Still, if it holds true for most corals, this adaptive ability could provide a "cushion" for survival and might give coral reefs a few extra decades of fighting back the harsh effects of climate change, Palumbi said.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by Stanford University. The original article was written by Rob Jordan. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

Journal Reference:

Stephen R. Palumbi, Daniel J. Barshis, Nikki Traylor-Knowles, and Rachael A. Bay. Mechanisms of Reef Coral Resistance to Future Climate Change. Science, 24 April 2014 DOI: 10.1126/science.1251336

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“2011 and Beyond” - What you are seeing, and why - Jan 16, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Text version)

"....Let us just talk about the ocean for a moment. We won't even get to what's happening in the air and what mammals might experience. Let's just speak of the ocean. Have you heard about the salmon? What has your science warned you against? You're overfishing! The sea is dying. The coral is dying. The reefs are going away. You're not seeing the food chain that used to be there. You've overfished everything. Fishing quotas have been set up to help this. Oh, all those little people in the red room - they don't know about the purple. Red people only know about the red paradigm.

Did you hear about the salmon recently? There's too many of them! In the very place where quotas are in place so you won't overfish, they're jumping in the boats! Against all odds and any projections from environmentalists or biologists, they're overrunning the oceans in Alaska - way too many fish.

What does that tell you? Is it possible that Gaia takes care of itself? That's what it tells you! Perhaps this alignment is going to keep humanity fed. Did anybody think of this? What if Gaia is in alliance with you? What if the increase in consciousness that raised your DNA vibration has alerted Gaia to change the weather cycle and get ready to feed humanity? Are you looking at the ocean where the oil spill occurred? It's recovering in a way that was not predicted. What's happening?

The life cycle itself is being altered by the temperature change of the ocean and much of what you have believed is the paradigm of life in the sea is slowly changing. A new system of life is appearing, as it has before, and is upon you in your lifetime. It will compliment what you know and expose you to a new concept: Gaia regularly refreshes the life cycle on Earth. ...."

Marshall Islands sues nine nuclear powers over failure to disarm

Pacific nation that was site of 67 nuclear tests between 1946 and 1958 accuses states of 'flagrant denial of human justice'

theguardian.com, Julian Borger, diplomatic editor,  Thursday 24 April 2014, 11.11

Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, where a 15-megaton device equivalent to a thousand
Hiroshima blasts, detonated in 1954. Photograph: US Air Force - digital version

The Marshall Islands is suing the nine countries with nuclear weapons at the international court of justice at The Hague, arguing they have violated their legal obligation to disarm.

In the unprecedented legal action, comprising nine separate cases brought before the ICJ on Thursday, the Republic of the Marshall Islands accuses the nuclear weapons states of a "flagrant denial of human justice". It argues it is justified in taking the action because of the harm it suffered as a result of the nuclear arms race.

The Pacific chain of islands, including Bikini Atoll and Enewetak, was the site of 67 nuclear tests from 1946 to 1958, including the "Bravo shot", a 15-megaton device equivalent to a thousand Hiroshima blasts, detonated in 1954. The Marshallese islanders say they have been suffering serious health and environmental effects ever since.

The island republic is suing the five "established" nuclear weapons states recognised in the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) – the US, Russia (which inherited the Soviet arsenal), China, France and the UK – as well as the three countries outside the NPT who have declared nuclear arsenals – India, Pakistan and North Korea, and the one undeclared nuclear weapons state, Israel.

The NPT, which came into force in 1970 is essentially a compact between the non-weapon states, who pledged to not to acquire nuclear weapons, and the weapons states, who in return undertook to disarm under article VI of the treaty.

Although the size of the arsenals are sharply down from the height of the cold war, the Marshall Islands' legal case notes there remain more than 17,000 warheads in existence, 16,000 of them owned by Russia and the US – enough to destroy all life on the planet.

"The long delay in fulfilling the obligations enshrined in article VI of the NPT constitutes a flagrant denial of human justice," the court documents say.

The Marshall Islands case draws attention to the fact that the weapons states are currently in the process of modernising their nuclear weapons, which it portrays as a clear violation of the NPT.

The case against Britain, which has an estimated total inventory of 225 warheads and is in the process of replacing its submarine-launched Trident arsenal, states that: "The UK has not pursued in good faith negotiations to cease the nuclear arms race at an early date through comprehensive nuclear disarmament or other measures, and instead is taking actions to improve its nuclear weapons system and to maintain it for the indefinite future."

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's general secretary, Kate Hudson, said: "The nuclear-armed states continue to peddle the myth that they are committed to multilateral disarmament initiatives, while squandering billions to modernise their nuclear arsenals. The UK government's plans to replace Trident make a mockery of its professed belief in multilateral frameworks – and now in addition to huge public opposition in the UK, it will also face an international legal challenge to expose its hypocrisy."

A huge dome is shown in 1980 covering a crater left by one of the

43 nuclear blasts on Runit Island, in the Marshall Islands, the fallout

 from which is expected to last 25,000 years (US Defence Nuclear Agency/

AFP/File)

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Philippine Airlines Quits Flying Shark Fins Amid Outcry

Jakarta Globe – AFP,  Apr 24, 2014

A family eats shark fin soup at Vancouver's Grand Honor Chinese restaurant
 in Vancouver, British Columbia, in this file photo. Philippine Airlines (PAL) said
on April 24, 2014 it has stopped flying shark fin cargoes. (Reuters Photo/Ben Nelms)

Manila. Philippine Airlines (PAL) said Thursday it has stopped flying shark fin cargoes, joining a number of other Asia-Pacific carriers in taking a stand for marine conservation.

The fins are used in shark fin soup, a much-valued delicacy in Hong Kong and China.

Conservationists say booming demand for such fins has put pressure on the world’s shark populations, prompting calls for measures to restrict their trade.

“PAL values the issue on protection and conservation of endangered marine life seriously, recognizing that the company’s long-term interest is and should be consistent with sustainable and responsible business practices,” a PAL statement said.

Air New Zealand as well as South Korea’s two largest airlines, Korean Air and Asiana, separately announced last year that they would ban shark fins from their cargo flights, a year after Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific also stopped shipping them.

Fiji Airways announced last year it would no longer carry “shark fins and shark-related products sourced from unsustainable and unverified sources”, and would only carry fins from species not threatened with extinction.

Agence France-Presse

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Scientists solve mystery of Southern Ocean 'quacking' sound

Noise heard in the Southern Ocean has been attributed to the underwater chatter of the Antarctic minke whale

theguardian.com, Taku Dzimwasha, Wednesday 23 April 2014

The mystery of a bizarre quacking sound heard in the ocean has finally been
 traced to the Antarctic minke whale, scientists say. Photograph: Ashley
Cooper/Alamy

The mystery source of a strange quacking sound coming from the ocean has been discovered.

The so-called "bio-duck" noise, which occurs in the winter and spring in the Southern Ocean, had confused researchers for over 50 years.

Scientists have now attributed the sound to underwater chatter of the Antarctic minke whale.

Submarine crews first heard the quacking sound – a series of repetitive, low-pitched pulsing sounds – in the 1960s.

Lead researcher Denise Risch, from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration north-east fisheries science centre in Massachusetts, told the BBC: "Over the years there have been several suggestions, but no one was able to really show this species was producing the sound until now."

The research team attached suction-cup sensor tags equipped with underwater microphones to a pair of minke whales off the western Antarctic peninsula in February last year, with the aim of monitoring their feeding behaviour and movements.

These were the first acoustic tags deployed on Antarctic minke whales, and the team compared their recordings with years worth of collected audio recordings to match the sounds. Researchers were able to identify the quacking noise, as well as downward-sweeping sounds previously linked to minke whales.

The sounds "can now be attributed unequivocally to the Antarctic minke whale," Risch and her team wrote in a study published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.

Researchers are hoping to retrospectively analyse previous recordings to investigate "seasonal occurrence and migration patterns" of the whales.

Scientists remain puzzled as to why the whales produce the sound, but it is thought that the animals make the noise close to the surface before they make a deep dives to feed.

Risch added: "Identifying their sounds will allow us to use passive acoustic monitoring to study this species. That can give us the timing of their migration – the exact timing of when the animals appear in Antarctic waters and when they leave again – so we can learn about migratory patterns, about their relative abundance in different areas and their movement patterns between the areas."