Investigation of Social Approaches in Different Countries towards Suicide of the Blue Whale Game through Newspaper News

The aim of this study is to examine the negative attitude and prejudice of the media reflected in news articles about the relationship between ‘online games and suicidal youth’. This study analyzed the content of the news and the language of the media used for young people who committed suicide related to playing Blue Whale Challenge in different social settings. In this study, news articles in three different countries were examined with the content analysis method, using the content descriptors of Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). In the news concerning young people who committed suicide and used this game, it was clearly observed that sources of influence involved attitudes towards online games, developed in part through the messages of the media, and that social conditions, including generational experiences, were influential in creating the media messages. Keywords: media panic, violence, online games, Blue Whale Challenge

Source Level of Antarctic Blue and Fin Whale Sounds Recorded on Sonobuoys Deployed in the Deep-Ocean Off Antarctica

The source levels, SL, of Antarctic blue and fin whale calls were estimated using acoustic recordings collected from directional sonobuoys deployed during an Antarctic voyage in 2019. Antarctic blue whale call types included stereotyped song and downswept frequency-modulated calls, often, respectively, referred to as Z-calls (comprising song units-A, B, and C) and D-calls. Fin whale calls included 20 Hz pulses and 40 Hz downswept calls. Source levels were obtained by measuring received levels (RL) and modelling transmission losses (TL) for each detection. Estimates of SL were sensitive to the parameters used in TL models, particularly the seafloor geoacoustic properties and depth of the calling whale. For our best estimate of TL and whale-depth, mean SL in dB re 1 μPa ± 1 standard deviation ranged between 188–191 ± 6–8 dB for blue whale call types and 189–192 ± 6 dB for fin whale call types. These estimates of SL are the first from the Southern Hemisphere for D-calls and 40 Hz downsweeps, and the largest sample size to-date for Antarctic blue whale song. Knowledge of source levels is essential for estimating the detection range and communication space of these calls and will enable more accurate comparisons of detections of these sounds from sonobuoy surveys and across international long-term monitoring networks.

Seasonal Occurrence of Sympatric Blue Whale Subspecies: the Chilean and Southeast Indian Ocean Pygmy Blue Whales With the Antarctic Blue Whale

There are multiple blue whale acoustic populations found across the Southern Hemisphere. The different subspecies of blue whales feed in separate areas, but during their migration to lower-latitude breeding areas each year, Antarctic blue whales become sympatric with pygmy and Chilean blue whales. Few studies have compared the degree of this overlap of the Southern Hemisphere blue whale subspecies across ocean basins during their migration. Using up to 16 years of acoustic data, this study compares the broad seasonal presence of Antarctic blue whales, Chilean blue whales, and Southeast Indian Ocean (SEIO) pygmy blue whales across the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Antarctic blue whales were sympatric with the other two blue whale subspecies during the migrating season of every year. Despite this overlap, Chilean and pygmy blue whale detections peaked earlier during the austral autumn (April–May) while Antarctic blue whale detections peaked later during the austral winter (June). Chilean (Pacific Ocean) and SEIO (Indian Ocean) pygmy blue whales showed similar seasonal patterns in detections despite occurring in different ocean basins. Though we have shown that Antarctic blue whales have the potential to encounter other blue whale subspecies during the breeding season, these distinct groups have remained acoustically stable through time. Further understanding of where these whales migrate will enable a better insight as to how these subspecies continue to remain separate.

ON THE EVALUATION OF THE CREST FACTOR OF BIONIC SIGNALS USED IN HYDROACOUSTIC COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS

In this article, the authors evaluated the crest factor of bionic signals used in hydroacoustic communication systems, using the example of the study of signals based on the use of recordings of sounds of various whale species. The calculations and literature analysis show that the sound recordings of the following whale species have an acceptable crest factor value (p ≤ 4): Blue whale, Alaska humpback whale, Atlantic blue whale and Northeast Pacific blue whale. Recordings of the sounds of these types of whales should be used in the appropriate hydroacoustic communication systems. In contrast, recordings of the sounds of such whale species as Atlantic fin whale, Atlantic minke whale, South Pacific blue whale, and Western Pacific blue whale have an increased crest factor value (p > 4) and without adaptation, it is impractical to use them in appropriate hydroacousticcommunication systems. It is established that bionic signals used in hydroacoustic communication systems, based on the example of the study of signals based on the use of recordings of sounds of various species of whales, can have both an acceptable value of the crest factor or an increased one. It is advisable to pay attention of the de-velopers and manufacturers of the corresponding hydroacoustic communication systems to this conclusion during designing, testing and implementation of such systems.

A Physio-Logging Journey: Heart Rates of the Emperor Penguin and Blue Whale

Physio-logging has the potential to explore the processes that underlie the dive behavior and ecology of marine mammals and seabirds, as well as evaluate their adaptability to environmental change and other stressors. Regulation of heart rate lies at the core of the physiological processes that determine dive capacity and performance. The bio-logging of heart rate in unrestrained animals diving at sea was infeasible, even unimaginable in the mid-1970s. To provide a historical perspective, I review my 40-year experience in the development of heart rate physio-loggers and the evolution of a digital electrocardiogram (ECG) recorder that is still in use today. I highlight documentation of the ECG and the interpretation of heart rate profiles in the largest of avian and mammalian divers, the emperor penguin and blue whale.

Opportunistic sightings of blue whales off Sydney, Australia

ABSTRACT Two subspecies of blue whale occur in Australian waters, (1) the pygmy blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda) and (2) the Antarctic blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus intermedia). Understanding blue whale presence in Australian waters is critical to ensuring Australia’s protection of these marine mammals as both subspecies were heavily exploited during historical whaling. This short note documents pygmy blue whale sightings in New South Wales waters over the last 18 years. Observations were opportunistically made via citizen science and verified by scientists. Sightings in this note contribute to our limited knowledge of pygmy blue whale distribution along the east coast of Australia and may help understand the migratory movements of New Zealand pygmy blue whales off Australia and in the Tasman Sea. Overall, information presented in this note contributes to Australia’s national and international conservation efforts to protecting blue whales as a migratory and threatened species.