The Changing Song of the Whale -- Conscious Breath Adventures

Whale Song

By Cloe Waterfield, Twentyfifty, for Conscious Breath Adventures
December 2009

Fascinating findings published this month analyzed the songs of blue whales in recordings from the 1960’s and found the whale’s voices are getting lower and deeper. Whale Acoustics, the company that made the recordings in conjunction with scientists from Scripps, found they had to keep recalibrating the song detectors used to track blue whales off the California coast. Overall a 31% drop in pitch has been detected.

Even more curious — blue whales, unlike humpbacks whose more studied song changes year to year (like an amazing chronicle), have group specific songs. All ten of the groups worldwide exhibited the same change. Suggested reasons are population growth — when recordings began numbers were so small they had to use higher frequencies to communicate effectively, and, a more likely scenario — ocean acidification. Scientists have shown that the 30% increase in ocean acidity documented has caused sound to travel 10% farther underwater. Increased shipping and ocean exploration are also contributing to a noisier ocean and the whales are responding.

Humpback whales are famous for their haunting thirty minute serenades; we experience them, unforgettably, each year on the Silver Bank where the vibrations travel right through you. One reason for hearing it yourself is the mystery; scientists still don’t really know what stories are being told, what information is being conveyed. Research suggests that, much like a serenading Romeo or a concert pianist, whales might be advertizing their mental fitness in the quest to find a mate. It’s speculated that in addition to the physical reasons, perhaps the blue whales are trying to sound more ‘manly’ with their deeper voices.

All cetaceans rely on sound for feeding, communication and mating. It’s a crucial component of their incredibly complex social systems which we are only just beginning to understand. While there’s still much to learn we are grateful for our one on one time with these amazing animals and hope to do as much as possible to stem the changes in ocean chemistry which might negatively affect them.

Conscious Breath Adventures was recently featured in the The Underwater Journal, a diving adventure magazine with an article on Whale Song. Check out the edition at http://www.underwaterjournal.com/.

Links and References

Parsons, E.C.M., Wright, A.J., Gore, M.A., 2008, The Nature of Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) Song, Vol 1, No1.