Scientists unravel the mystery of whale songs

Scientists have discovered how the ocean’s largest whales create their haunting and complex songs.

Humpback whales and other baleen whales have evolved specialized “vocal boxes” that allow them to sing underwater.

Whale songs are limited to narrow frequencies that overlap with the noise made by ships.

Professor Koen Elemans from the University of Southern Denmark, who led the study, said: “Sound is absolutely important for their survival because it is the only way they find each other to mate at sea.” explain.

”[These are some] “They are the most mysterious animals that have ever lived on Earth. They are one of the largest animals, they are intelligent and they are very social,” he told BBC News.

Baleen whales are a group of 14 species including blue whales, humpback whales, right whales, minke whales, and gray whales. Instead of teeth, these animals have plates of things called barbels through which they sift out giant mouthfuls of tiny creatures from the water.

How they create such complex and haunting songs has until now been a mystery. Professor Ellemans said it was “very exciting” to be able to figure it out.

He and his colleagues conducted experiments using the larynxes, or “vocal boxes,” carefully removed from the carcasses of three stranded whales: a minke, a humpback, and a sei whale. They then blew air into the giant structure to make sound.

The human voice is generated from vibrations as air passes through structures in the throat called vocal cords. Instead, baleen whales have a large U-shaped structure with a cushion of fat at the top of the larynx.

This vocal structure allows the animal to sing by recycling air and also prevents water inhalation.

Researchers created a computer model of the sound and showed that baleen whales’ calls are limited to a narrow range of frequencies that overlap with the noise made by ships.

“They cannot, for example, simply choose to sing at a higher pitch to avoid the noise we make at sea,” Professor Ellemans explained.

His research demonstrated how ocean noise interferes with whales’ long-distance communication. His knowledge could be vital to the conservation of humpback whales, blue whales and other endangered sea giants.

It also provides insight into questions researchers have had for decades about these eerie songs, which some sailors attributed to ghosts or mythical sea creatures.

Dr. Kate Stafford of Oregon State University, an expert on whale communication, called the study “groundbreaking.”

“Sound production and reception are the most important senses for marine mammals, so research that uncovers how they make sound could advance the field,” she told BBC News. Ta.

The study also paints an evolutionary picture of how whale ancestors returned from land to the sea and how they adapted to enable underwater communication.

The mechanisms by which so-called toothed whales make sounds are better understood because they are easier to study. Marine mammals, such as dolphins, killer whales, sperm whales, and porpoises, pump air through special structures in their nasal cavities.

Dr Ellen Garland, from the University of St Andrews’ Marine Mammal Research Unit, said: “I’ve always wondered how baleen whales, and in particular humpback whales, the subject of my research, actually make the different sounds they make.

“Studying large whales is extremely difficult under the best of conditions, but we are trying to figure out how whales make sounds when you can’t see them underwater. It’s even more difficult to do that, so these researchers were very creative.”

Dr Stafford added that the ability of mammals to emit such complex vocal signals is “remarkable”, highlighting “how special these animals are”.