The Tongue of the Ocean is a deep, enclosed trench that allows for unique submarine projects. Because of this the Naval Undersea Warfare Centre already had the technology a research team from Duke University would need to conduct their observational experiments.
While scientists already knew Blainsville's beaked whales prey on fish and squid at a range of 400-1000 meters. These whales can hold their breathe for up to an hour diving as deep as 3300 feet!
Evidence of beaked whales using oceanic features to find prey has been found. Scientists believe this is accomplished by using specific information, namely salinity, temperature to track. This is the first time information on the feeding habits of Blainsville's beaked whales have ever been established.
Observing beaked whale behaviour at depths is important especially because of the increasing amount of noise pollution humans are unleashing on the ocean. In 2000, beaked whales were found stranded throughout The Bahamas, the timing coincided with naval sonar exercises in the Tongue of the Ocean. It should not take situations like this to raise awareness, but sometimes the dramatic affect works...
After the beachings, scientists begun analyzing acoustic data, using 82 hydrophones mounted to the seafloor in the Tongue of the Ocean. They found that "scattering layers" (represent prey) were denser on the western side than the east. In knowing this, if further naval marine experiments need to be conducted, they can attempt to minimize the noise in relation to whales.