The ocean swims in sounds, and a new AI tool could help scientists sift through all that noise to track and study marine mammals. This tool is called Deep Squeak, not because it measures the calls of dolphins. The researchers are now applying the technology to vast marine bioacoustics datasets. Given that much of the ocean is out of our physical reach, underwater sound can help us understand where marine mammals swim, their density and abundance, and how they interact with each other. Recordings of whale songs have already helped to identify an unknown population of blue whales in the Indian Ocean and a previously unknown species of beaked whales.

The ocean is swimming in sound, and a new artificial intelligence tool could help scientists sift through all that noise to track and study marine mammals. The tool is called DeepSqueak, not because it measures dolphin calls in the ocean underworld, but because it is based on a deep learning algorithm that was first used to categorize the different ultrasonic squeals of mice. Now, researchers are applying the technology to vast datasets of marine bioacoustics. Given that much of the ocean is out of our physical reach, underwater sound could help us understand where marine mammals swim, their density and abundance, and how they interact with one another. Already, recordings of whale songs have helped identify an unknown population of blue whales in the Indian Ocean and a never-before-heard species of beaked whale.