A herd of belugas breaks through the surface of the water as their squawks, chirps, whistles and grunts fill the surroundings below \u2013 it becomes clear why they are nicknamed \u201ccanaries of the sea\u201d. Could their sounds help tell them apart?<\/p>\n
In an exciting breakthrough, Valeria Vergara and Marie-Ana Mikus from the Marine Mammal Research Program at Ocean Wise Conservation Association have found preliminary evidence of contact calls acting as vocal signatures in wild belugas.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe have been studying this species without knowing what they were saying. We now know their \u2018hello\u2019 and \u2018hello, my name is\u2019,\u201d exclaims Vergara<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Belugas are highly gregarious and social animals. They have matrilineal societies with strong sexual segregations during their summer concentrations when herds of females and young return to the same coastal areas year after year\u2014a phenomenon called site fidelity. \u201cFor a beluga, the value of site fidelity is good knowledge of that area during the first months of life of beluga offspring. It is a good strategy to increase their survival,\u201d explains Robert Michaud, Scientific Director and President of the Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals (GREMM).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A herd of belugas breaks through the surface of the water as their squawks, chirps, whistles and grunts fill the surroundings below \u2013 it becomes clear why they are nicknamed \u201ccanaries of the sea\u201d. Could their sounds help tell them apart? In an exciting breakthrough, Valeria Vergara and Marie-Ana Mikus from the Marine Mammal Research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":40653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[468,467,20,42],"class_list":["post-42719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-acoustic","tag-acoustique-en","tag-beluga-en","tag-communication-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Putting a face to a call : identifying belugas acoustically - Baleines en direct<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A herd of belugas breaks through the surface of the water as their squawks, chirps, whistles and grunts fill the surroundings below \u2013 it becomes clear why\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Putting a face to a call : identifying belugas acoustically - Baleines en direct\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A herd of belugas breaks through the surface of the water as their squawks, chirps, whistles and grunts fill the surroundings below \u2013 it becomes clear why\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Baleines en direct\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/baleinesendirect\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-01-08T14:26:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-24T20:46:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/BLV170724_1101.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jasspreet Sahib\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BaleineMagazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BaleineMagazine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jasspreet Sahib\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jasspreet Sahib\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/73dcbe00c1367510ffda0f15fd73d15e\"},\"headline\":\"Putting a face to a call : identifying belugas acoustically\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-08T14:26:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-24T20:46:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":196,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/BLV170724_1101.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"acoustic\",\"acoustique\",\"B\u00e9luga\",\"communication\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/\",\"name\":\"Putting a face to a call : identifying belugas acoustically - Baleines en direct\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/BLV170724_1101.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-08T14:26:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-24T20:46:30+00:00\",\"description\":\"A herd of belugas breaks through the surface of the water as their squawks, chirps, whistles and grunts fill the surroundings below \u2013 it becomes clear why\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/BLV170724_1101.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/05\\\/BLV170724_1101.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Accueil\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Putting a face to a call : identifying belugas acoustically\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Baleines en direct\",\"description\":\"Tout savoir sur les baleines du Qu\u00e9bec\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Baleines en direct\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/07\\\/logo.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":88,\"caption\":\"Baleines en direct\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/baleinesendirect\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/BaleineMagazine\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/BaleinesEnDirect\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/73dcbe00c1367510ffda0f15fd73d15e\",\"name\":\"Jasspreet Sahib\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/121dc54b7a5f3752234444fa958bf18960078aab47f052d6bbf13e43823bea94?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/121dc54b7a5f3752234444fa958bf18960078aab47f052d6bbf13e43823bea94?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/121dc54b7a5f3752234444fa958bf18960078aab47f052d6bbf13e43823bea94?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jasspreet Sahib\"},\"description\":\"After spending the summer with whales off the west coast of Canada, Jasspreet Sahib is delighted to join the GREMM team as a Writing Intern this fall, through the Canadian Conservation Corps program. With a background in Marine Biology and Journalism Studies from Dalhousie University, she loves to share her passion for marine mammals and science communication with the readers of Whales Online.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/baleinesendirect.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/jsahib\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Putting a face to a call : identifying belugas acoustically - Baleines en direct","description":"A herd of belugas breaks through the surface of the water as their squawks, chirps, whistles and grunts fill the surroundings below \u2013 it becomes clear why","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Putting a face to a call : identifying belugas acoustically - Baleines en direct","og_description":"A herd of belugas breaks through the surface of the water as their squawks, chirps, whistles and grunts fill the surroundings below \u2013 it becomes clear why","og_url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/","og_site_name":"Baleines en direct","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/baleinesendirect","article_published_time":"2019-01-08T14:26:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-24T20:46:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/BLV170724_1101.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jasspreet Sahib","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BaleineMagazine","twitter_site":"@BaleineMagazine","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jasspreet Sahib","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/"},"author":{"name":"Jasspreet Sahib","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#\/schema\/person\/73dcbe00c1367510ffda0f15fd73d15e"},"headline":"Putting a face to a call : identifying belugas acoustically","datePublished":"2019-01-08T14:26:30+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-24T20:46:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/"},"wordCount":196,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/BLV170724_1101.jpg","keywords":["acoustic","acoustique","B\u00e9luga","communication"],"articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/","name":"Putting a face to a call : identifying belugas acoustically - Baleines en direct","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/BLV170724_1101.jpg","datePublished":"2019-01-08T14:26:30+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-24T20:46:30+00:00","description":"A herd of belugas breaks through the surface of the water as their squawks, chirps, whistles and grunts fill the surroundings below \u2013 it becomes clear why","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/BLV170724_1101.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/BLV170724_1101.jpg","width":1024,"height":683},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/mettre-un-visage-sur-un-voix-lidentification-acoustique-des-belugas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Accueil","item":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Putting a face to a call : identifying belugas acoustically"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/","name":"Baleines en direct","description":"Tout savoir sur les baleines du Qu\u00e9bec","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#organization","name":"Baleines en direct","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/logo.png","width":300,"height":88,"caption":"Baleines en direct"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/baleinesendirect","https:\/\/x.com\/BaleineMagazine","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/BaleinesEnDirect"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/#\/schema\/person\/73dcbe00c1367510ffda0f15fd73d15e","name":"Jasspreet Sahib","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/121dc54b7a5f3752234444fa958bf18960078aab47f052d6bbf13e43823bea94?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/121dc54b7a5f3752234444fa958bf18960078aab47f052d6bbf13e43823bea94?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/121dc54b7a5f3752234444fa958bf18960078aab47f052d6bbf13e43823bea94?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jasspreet Sahib"},"description":"After spending the summer with whales off the west coast of Canada, Jasspreet Sahib is delighted to join the GREMM team as a Writing Intern this fall, through the Canadian Conservation Corps program. With a background in Marine Biology and Journalism Studies from Dalhousie University, she loves to share her passion for marine mammals and science communication with the readers of Whales Online.","url":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/author\/jsahib\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baleinesendirect.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}