Researchers are alarmed after observing a significant drop in the amount of vocalizations from blue whales. As National Geographic reports, scientists used specialized, underwater hydrophones, or underwater microphones, to record and trace the songs of marine life. This data allowed them to analyze the impact human activity is having on various species. However, as detailed in a study published in the journal PLOS One, devastating heat waves triggered worrying changes, allowing toxic algae to bloom and undermine food sources for whales. "It caused the most widespread poisoning of marine mammals ever documented," coauthor and Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute biological […]