Listening in on whales

IN BUT one example of the heady new world opening up to civilian scientists after the end of the Cold War, biologists used the US navy's formerly top secret underwater listening devices to track a blue whale for 43 days.

Marine biologist Adam S Frankel said the surveillance system has got "the potential to revolutionise everything we do", especially as it is hard to track the huge mammal, which is listed as an endangered species.