How To Find a Cryptic Animal: Recording the Elusive Beaked Whale in the Foz do Amazonas Basin

While finding the creatures takes a lot of work, the results are worth it.

A beaked whale sighting from the researchers’ field study in the Foz do Amazonas Basin. Credit: Machado et al.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2025 – Whale watching is a popular pastime on coastlines around the world. Cetaceans like blue whales, humpbacks, and orcas can be seen in the wild, and their characteristics are well categorized in science and popular culture. Other cetaceans, however, are less outgoing, preferring to stay out of the limelight.

Beaked whales are considered one of the least understood mammals in the world, which is due to their cryptic…click to read more

From: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Article: Finding beaked whales in the Foz do Amazonas Basin: Visual and acoustic records of a deep diving cetacean
DOI: 10.1121/10.0038973

More Press Releases

Simulate Sound in 3D at a Finer Scale than Humans Can Perceive

Ambisonics algorithm helps create rich virtual soundscapes using a domed array of loudspeakers.

The AudioDome, a loudspeaker that can reproduce an entire surrounding acoustic field as if the listener is immersed in a real-life soundscape. Credit: sonible GmbH, Graz, Austria

WASHINGTON, April 15, 2025 – Surround-sound speakers can immerse you in a multimedia experience, but what if there was a speaker that could completely re-create a three-dimensional soundscape?

The AudioDome is more than just a loudspeaker arrangement — it’s a dome of speakers that can create an immersive sound experience that reproduces sound sources at any location when… click to read more

From: JASA
Article: Focality of sound source placement by higher (ninth) order ambisonics and perceptual effects of spectral reproduction errors
DOI: 10.1121/10.0036226

‘Fishial’ Recognition: Neural Network Identifies Coral Reef Sounds

Faster identification of fish sounds from acoustic recordings can improve research, conservation efforts

CUREE, an autonomous underwater robot, is used by the researchers to collect acoustic data for analysis. Image by Austin Greene, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2025 – Coral reefs are some of the world’s most diverse ecosystems. Despite making up less than 1% of the world’s oceans, one quarter of all marine species spend some portion of their life on a reef. With so much life in one spot, researchers can struggle to gain a clear understanding of which species are present and in what numbers.

In JASA, published on behalf of the Acoustical Society of America by AIP Publishing, researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution combined acoustic monitoring with a neural network to… click to read more

From: JASA
Article: Automated acoustic voice screening techniques for comorbid depression and anxiety disorders
DOI: 10.1121/10.0035829

Ouch! Commonalties Found in Pain Vocalizations and Interjections Across Cultures

Study investigates vocalizations and interjections for pain, joy, and disgust across 131 languages.

Vowel density maps reveal that distinct vowel spaces for vocalizations of pain, disgust, and joy remain consistent across languages. Credit: Ponsonnet et al.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2024 – There are an estimated 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, each offering unique ways to express human emotion. But do certain emotions show regularities in their vocal expression across languages?

In JASA, published on behalf of the Acoustical Society of America by AIP Publishing, an interdisciplinary team of linguists and bioacousticians led by Maïa Ponsonnet, Katarzyna Pisanski, and Christophe Coupé explored this by… click to read more

From: JASA
Article: Vowel signatures in emotional interjections and nonlinguistic vocalizations expressing pain, disgust and joy across languages
DOI: 10.1121/10.0032454

Hard-of-Hearing Music Fans Prefer a Different Sound

Modern music can be inaccessible to those with hearing loss; sound mixing tweaks could make a difference.

Listeners with hearing loss can struggle to make out vocals and certain frequencies in modern music. Credit: Aravindan Joseph Benjamin

WASHINGTON, August 22, 2023 – Millions of people around the world experience some form of hearing loss, resulting in negative impacts to their health and quality of life. Treatments exist in the form of hearing aids and cochlear implants, but these assistive devices cannot replace the full functionality of human hearing and remain inaccessible for most people. Auditory experiences, such as speech and music…click to read more

From: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Article: Exploring level- and spectrum-based music mixing transforms for hearing-impaired listeners
DOI: 10.1121/10.0020269

Vocal Tract Size, Shape Dictate Speech Sounds

Main anatomical shape factors of the vocal tract. Credit: Antoine Serrurier

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2023 – Only humans have the ability to use speech. Remarkably, this communication is understandable across accent, social background, and anatomy despite a wide variety of ways to produce the necessary sounds. In JASA, published on behalf of the Acoustical Society of America by AIP Publishing, researchers from…click to read more

From the Journal: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Article: Morphological and acoustic modeling of the vocal tract
DOI: 10.1121/10.0017356