Whale Songs Could Reveal Deep Secrets Beneath the Oceans

“It’s a nice example of how we make use of the data the planet provides for us,” said Jackie Caplan-Auerbach, a seismologist and volcanologist at Western Washington University not involved with the work, which was published Thursday in Science.

Fin whales — 60-ton, 80-foot long, graceful beasts — get their name from the prominent fin on their backs. They are fast swimmers that love to eat krill, schools of tiny fish and squid. And as they swim in groups, they gossip with one another by making booming 189-decibel chirps.