This whale season, the team at Ocean Rafting has been tuning into the deep and capturing Humpback Whale songs using an underwater microphone known as a hydrophone. These recordings are shared with the University of Queensland’s long-running Cetacean Ecology Group, a research initiative that’s been studying Humpback Whales for over 25 years, with a particular focus on their iconic vocalisations. By contributing to this long-term monitoring program, Ocean Rafting is helping researchers track how whale songs evolve over time, revealing patterns, complexities, and changes across seasons.
In addition to this collaboration, Ocean Rafting is also partnering with Griffith University’s Whales and Climate Program on an innovative research project supported by Google’s Digital Futures Initiative. This project harnesses the power of underwater hydrophones and cutting-edge audio detection technology powered by Google AI to monitor the migration of Humpback Whales along Australia’s East Coast.
Hydrophones, which are essentially underwater microphones, allow researchers to record whale sounds, which, when paired with visual sightings, provide a richer understanding of whale behaviour and movement. As part of this initiative, Ocean Rafting is currently testing this technology, including deploying several hydrophones around our Whitsunday Islands to support ongoing research efforts.
We’ve tuned in, we’ve got a signal and we hope to see you for our next humpback whale season!
