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Taiwan contributes 51 cetacean sound files to online research archive

02/17/2025 08:50 PM
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Photo courtesy of Hualien Formosa Association
Photo courtesy of Hualien Formosa Association

Hualien, Feb. 17 (CNA) With the assistance of a local whale-watching company, Taiwan's Hualien Formosa Association has uploaded 51 sound files of varying cetacean species from the waters of Hualien County onto an open source research archive.

The association's chairperson Liao Hung-chi (廖鴻基) made the statement in a press release marking international World Whale Day, which falls on the third Sunday of every February as inaugurated by the Pacific Whale Foundation.

The recordings were made with the assistance of Hualien's Turumoan Whale Watching Co., he said.

The two organizations have been involved with cetacean research for years, recording audio and visual data of the eight species most commonly seen near Hualien.

The association said it has since accumulated 107 sound files from the various species from sea voyages that totaled over two years of time spent at sea.

The project was initiated by NGOs, he said before thanking the association's partners like the whale watching company and the Chen-Yung Foundation.

The voyages were only made possible by the proceeds from ticket purchased by ocean-bound tourists, he added.

The association revealed that 51 of the 107 audio files have already been uploaded onto Figshare, an online open access archive where researchers share data such as documents, sound files, images and video files.

All 51 sound files on the archive were uploaded with analysis on the files and also the date they were recorded for any international research organizations who are interested to use or cite them.

According to cetacean vocalization researcher Wen Chai-sheng (溫在昇), sound plays an integral role in cetacean ecology.

Different species of whales or the likes of dolphins adopt different audio frequencies to communicate, hunt and even for echolocation, Wen said.

The association noted that the recordings were also made through the efforts of members of the Sea Helpers Volunteers project which has operated for three years.

As long as the ships that are part of the project continue to go out to sea, the association said it will continue to work with partners to archive the marine life around Hualien.

(By Lee Hsien-feng and James Lo)

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