Whales Throng New York City Area, Surprising Scientists

A network of ten underwater sound recorders in place off the length of the south coast of Long Island and throughout New York Harbor (map) between 2008 and 2009 detected a surprising density of ocean giants across an unexpectedly vast area, experts say.

These "open mikes" picked up the ballads of the fin whale, blue whale, humpback whale, minke whale, sei whale, and the rare North Atlantic right whale, said Christopher Clark, Bioacoustics Research Program at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York.

The fin, humpback, right, and sei whales are on the U.S. endangered species list, meaning the federal government considers them to be "on the brink of extinction."

But what amazed the team the most was not the types of whales heard, but the sheer density of animals spread out over the entire study area, said Aaron Rice, science director of the bioacoustics lab.

For one thing, the scientists were struck by the "juxtaposition of having such large charismatic animals that represent ocean biodiversity living right off of the largest city on the Atlantic coast," Rice said

Some of the whales cruised as close as 10 miles (16 kilometers) from New York City, he said.

Clark said, "If you were standing at the top of the Statue of Liberty and looked south or southeast, if you [could see] under the water, there were whales singing under the surface."

In some cases, it was the whales' distance both near and far from shore that surprised the researchers.

For instance, the recorders picked up songs of the North Atlantic right whale 70 miles (113 kilometers) from shore—where the coastal dweller isn't thought to venture.

The acoustic technology, however, does not yet allow the scientists to accurately estimate exactly how many whales they heard.

Science director Rice said, "Now that we know they are there, our next question is how many."
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Soil Conservation Methods

Soil conservation is the need of the hour. With increased exploitation and pollution, erosion, decreased fertility and soil intoxication has led to a massive imbalance in the ecosystem. With excessive usage of fertilizers, pesticides and insecticides to increase crop yield, we are conveniently neglecting the permanent damage being caused to the soil's fertility.

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Step Farming And Counter Plowing Of Crops: This method can be adopted in areas where agriculture and farming is practiced on a large-scale. Cultivating land and designing it in the form of steps or elevated land structures will prevent water run off. This will help plants absorb water better, prevent run-off of essential nutrients along with soil layers, in turn preventing soil erosion.

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