How do whales sing? Scientists point to a specialised voice box that other animals don’t have
10 months, 2 weeks ago

How do whales sing? Scientists point to a specialised voice box that other animals don’t have

ABC  

In short: A study published in Nature has found baleen whales have evolved over millions of years to use a modified voice box that generates sound without them choking. A study published in Nature has found baleen whales have evolved over millions of years to use a modified voice box that generates sound without them choking. Experts in the field say the new study is the "most comprehensive" analysis to date of the mechanics behind whale songs and will direct future research into how they communicate. "This is the most comprehensive and significant study to date on how baleen whales vocalise, a long-standing mystery in the field," said Jeremy Goldbogen, an associate professor of oceans at Stanford University, who was not involved in the new research.

Nature Voice Songs Study Professor Box Sing Whale Whales Humpback Baleen Elemans Baleen Whales Communicate Professor Elemans  box  animals  humpback  elemans  study  whale  communicate  professor  dont  specialised  songs  scientists  baleen  voice  sing  point  whales

History of this topic

Cetacean conversation: AI could let us talk to whales. Experts question if that's a good idea
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Cetacean conversation: AI could let us talk to whales. Experts question if that's a good idea

Salon  

Selling more than 125,000 copies, the 1970 album “Songs of the Humpback Whale” is the bestselling nature recording of all time. In an article published five days before Payne’s death last year, the lifelong activist asked readers to imagine what it might be like to talk to whales, writing, “If we could communicate with animals, ask them questions and receive …

How do sperm whales talk to each other? MIT scientists decode basic elements of communication system
8 months ago

How do sperm whales talk to each other? MIT scientists decode basic elements of communication system

Hindustan Times  

Scientists studying the sperm whales that live around the Caribbean island of Dominica have described for the first time the basic elements of how they might be talking to each other, in an effort that could one day help better protect them. Like many whales and dolphins, sperm whales are highly social mammals and communicate by squeezing air through their …

How do whales sing? Lab experiments suggest their voice boxes have a unique feature
10 months, 2 weeks ago

How do whales sing? Lab experiments suggest their voice boxes have a unique feature

LA Times  

Scientists believe whales, like this humpback and her calf, have specialized voice boxes. In a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, Coen Elemans of the University of Southern Denmark and colleagues studied the voice boxes, or larynxes, from three dead, stranded whales — a humpback, minke and sei, which are all types of baleen whales. As loud as whales’ …

Whale songs are being drowned out by human ocean vessels, study finds
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Whale songs are being drowned out by human ocean vessels, study finds

Salon  

Whales are best known for their massive size and the biggest among them are the baleen whales. This low frequency makes the whales' vocalizations extremely vulnerable to human noise pollution like shipping traffic. As the study authors explain, baleen whales and their toothed whale cousins could not survive with the larynxes from their land mammal ancestors. At the same time, …

Scientists discover the anatomy behind the songs of baleen whales
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Scientists discover the anatomy behind the songs of baleen whales

The Hindu  

It is one of Earth’s most haunting sounds — the “singing” of baleen whales like the humpback, heard over vast distances in the watery realm. Baleen whales — a group that includes the blue whale, the largest animal in Earth’s history — use a larynx, or voice box, anatomically modified to enable underwater vocalisation, researchers said on February 21. That …

How do whales sing? Lab experiments suggest their voice boxes have a unique feature
10 months, 2 weeks ago

How do whales sing? Lab experiments suggest their voice boxes have a unique feature

Associated Press  

LONDON — Whales sing loud enough that their songs travel through the ocean, but knowing the mechanics behind that has been a mystery. In a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, Coen Elemans of the University of Southern Denmark and colleagues studied the voice boxes, or larynxes, from three dead, stranded whales — a humpback, minke and sei, which …

Scientists discover secret to how the largest ever mammal sings
10 months, 2 weeks ago

Scientists discover secret to how the largest ever mammal sings

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The secret to how baleen whales – the largest mammals to …

Citizen scientists learn how to capture whale songs in Whitsundays
1 year, 5 months ago

Citizen scientists learn how to capture whale songs in Whitsundays

ABC  

The distant humming of luxury boats can be heard whizzing around Queensland's picture-postcard Whitsunday Islands. They're sharing their observations and recordings of humpback whales with a long-term monitoring program run by the University of Queensland's Cetacean Ecology Group led by Professor Michael Noad. "We find a calm spot where there are not too many boats racing around … and then …

For toothed whales, sound production is all in the nose
1 year, 10 months ago

For toothed whales, sound production is all in the nose

The Hindu  

Dolphins, porpoises, killer whales, sperm whales and other toothed whales produce an array of sounds - to find prey employing a sonar-like system called echolocation and to communicate with other members of their species. "Echolocating toothed whales make the loudest sounds in the animal kingdom by forcing highly pressurized air past structures called phonic lips in their nose," said Peter …

Australian humpback whales are singing less and fighting more
1 year, 10 months ago

Australian humpback whales are singing less and fighting more

The Hindu  

As eastern Australian humpback whale populations have recovered over the years, males have adapted their mating strategy in a highly strategic way, new research finds. I analysed 123 days' worth of data on Australian humpbacks, collected from 1997 to 2015, and found male humpbacks sang less and fought more as the whale population ballooned. As the eastern humpback population grew, …

Humpback whales share culture and whole new songs across populations ‘very easily’, study finds
2 years, 6 months ago

Humpback whales share culture and whole new songs across populations ‘very easily’, study finds

The Independent  

Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Humpback whales learn incredibly complex songs from whales in other regions with “remarkable accuracy”, according …

Humpback whales' migration along Australia's east coast best time to hear marine animals sing
2 years, 6 months ago

Humpback whales' migration along Australia's east coast best time to hear marine animals sing

ABC  

Just beneath the water's surface off Queensland's coast, humpback whales can be heard singing clearly to each other, as new research shows they are learning complex tunes from other regions. Key points: Researchers at the University of Queensland believe whales are capable of learning complex songs from other regions Only male whales sing, with their distinct patterns changing every year …

Undersea habitats to change, fragment as human-made sounds drown out their voices: study
3 years, 11 months ago

Undersea habitats to change, fragment as human-made sounds drown out their voices: study

Firstpost  

Scientists claim to have recorded ‘fewer animals singing and calling than in the past’ with anthropogenic sounds fragmenting their habitats. “For many marine species, their attempts to communicate are being masked by sounds that humans have introduced,” said Carlos Duarte, a marine ecologist at the Red Sea Research Center in Saudi Arabia and co-author of the paper. In some parts …

Fin whales pick up new songs while migrating and bring them back to local populations, study suggests
4 years, 2 months ago

Fin whales pick up new songs while migrating and bring them back to local populations, study suggests

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. But this theory “has been blown out of the water”, by a new study that …

Blue whale singing patterns predict migration, study finds
4 years, 3 months ago

Blue whale singing patterns predict migration, study finds

The Independent  

In the immense vastness of the ocean, sound is everything for whales - allowing them to communicate over titanic distances, and in some species, target food through echolocation. So many marine organisms use sound for a variety of purposes.” Recommended Humpback whales move north as scientists believe warm oceans are the cause Blue whale vocalisations can be detected by other …

Off the coast of New Zealand, humpback whales sing karaoke
5 years, 3 months ago

Off the coast of New Zealand, humpback whales sing karaoke

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. But a study published in Royal Society Open Science reports there’s at least one place …

Discover Related