Sound on: Hydrophones Capture Wild Orcas’ Eerily Beautiful Songs

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OrcaLab runs a network of hydrophones and underwater cameras positioned around an orca habitat in the Johnstone Straight and Blackfish Sound in British Columbia, Canada. The organization specializes in real-time acoustic monitoring, which helps scientists better understand orcas. A recent post on social media allows the rest of us to experience what OrcaLab researchers hear every day—the eerie and beautiful sounds of wild orca “songs.”

In the video, you hear several orcas squealing and whistling. There are a lot of sounds I don’t even have words to describe. Meanwhile, you can also see orcas swimming, first from above the water and then from underwater.

In the caption, OrcaLab wrote: “There is a lovely sense that comes over one when sitting in the Lab at night, with earphones on listening to the hydrophones, anticipating. When the first distant calls are heard, and you understand where, you are transported. This is intimate, just you and the whales you have come to know.”

Listen to wild orcas’ unique songs on hydrophone recordings here: