Whales have had it pretty rough this week, but a new experiment with North Atlantic right whales – so known for their political leanings – may help save them from extinction. An alarming number of whales die each year from collisions with ships. Now Cornell University scientist Christopher Clark has a plan to locate them – by sound.

Those recordings will help determine if whales make enough noise - which sounds like a "moo" or a "whoop" - off the coast to justify trying a more sophisticated surveillance system that automatically picks out whale voices and relays them by satellite.

Actually, that’s just the noise the whales make when they’re watching “Jerry Springer.” But a complex eavesdropping system has other advantages as well, including determining whether any whales have terrorist leanings. A similar program to locate whales by spying on their library records was met with moos and whoops of outrage.

Scientists eavesdrop on endangered whales in effort to save them (AP)