Studying The Otherworldly Sounds In Antarctic Waters

Aside from placing new devices in the waters, the team which is part of a Colombian scientific expedition in Antarctica is retrieving those they left a year prior for analysis (Credit: AFP)

In freezing Antarctic waters, amid bobbing chunks of floating ice, the hums, pitches and echoes of life in the deep are helping scientists understand the behavior and movements of marine mammals.

"There are species which make impressive sounds, literally like Star Wars, they sound like spaceships," said Colombian scientist Andrea Bonilla, who is carrying out research with underwater microphones off Antarctica's coast.